Darren Johnson, Leader of the Green Party Group said, “Our budget proposals help set out a radical Green vision for London with major spending on social, environmental and transport initiatives. Furthermore, our proposals would mean a precept rise of only 20% for Council Tax payers compared to the Mayor’s proposed rise of 38.4%”
Jenny Jones, Green Party London Assembly Member added, “We are proposing a doubling of the congestion charge to £10 to act as a serious disincentive to unnecessary car use in London. Any additional revenue raised would be ploughed back into helping fund safe routes to schools across London and an orbital rail network.”
Darren Johnson said, “Our proposals intend to stop Ken Livingstone from spending huge sums of money on headline grabbing gimmicks such as free trips to the zoo. This year only £51,000 of the Mayor’s environmental budget is being used for hands-on biodiversity work whilst a staggering £372,000 was allocated for subsidising free trips to London Zoo.”
Transport – Expenditure
• Slashing spending on roadbuilding by £11.3 Million
• Cutting TfL’s contribution to Ken’s Londoner newspaper by £375,000
• Funding the £7 Million TfL contribution to the Orbirail project
• Providing an additional £13.575 Million for Safe Routes to School
• Investing £1.3 Million in Solar Powered transport initiatives
• Supporting the Mayor’s budget proposals on the freezing of bus fares and reduced fares for young Londoners
Transport – Income
• Doubling the Congestion Charge to £10 for ordinary vehicles as part of a radical traffic reduction programme and bringing in an additional £35 Million
• Increasing the Congestion Charge for Lorries to £15 which would bring in an additional £50 Million
• Introducing a £2.50 Congestion Charge for motorbikes which would bring in an additional £8 Million
Core GLA
• Supporting the Mayor’s Budget proposals for increased spending on social and environmental initiatives
• Slashing £250,000 from the Mayor’s programme to subsidise free trips to London Zoo and reinvesting the money in practical nature conservation work
• Cutting the Mayor’s Communications, Marketing and Advertising Budget by £0.5 Million
Metropolitan Police Authority
• Supporting all the Mayor’s Budget proposals for additional police officers
• Cutting the Police Service Press Office Budget by £1 Million
• Cutting the Police Service contribution to the Mayor’s Londoner newspaper by £0.5 Million
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
• Cut the Fire Service contribution to the Mayor’s Londoner newspaper by £120,000 and reinvesting £60,000 of this in public education initiatives on fire safety
London Development Agency
• Cutting the LDA’s contribution to the Mayor’s Londoner newspaper by £200,000 and reinvesting this money in the environmental sector of London’s economy to create green jobs in renewable energy and recycling
ENDS