STARK BUDGET CHOICES

Written by Graham Tope and published in Paddington Times on Mon 24th Jan 2005

Next year the Mayor's budget will be in the order of £10billion. This is funded very substantially by central government grant with the rest raised by the Mayor's 'precept' on Council Tax bills issued by the boroughs. The Mayor currently proposes a 7.2% increase - or double the rate of inflation.

Given that in his first four years in office the Mayor doubled his share of the Council tax combined with inflation busting rises on fares and Congestion Charge, I find this new increase simply unacceptable.

Instead, the Liberal Democrats are proposing a budget that will cut the Mayor's proposed increased in his share of Council tax by more than half, without jeopardising any front line services.

The Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly believe targeted increases in spending, funded if necessary from limited tax increases, are justifiable only when they deliver results. In contrast, the current Mayor has resorted to massive tax rises that fail to provide real improvements in front line services.

As Liberal Democrats have constantly warned, Transport for London continues to fail to get control of its spending. The fares increase, which the Mayor has admitted will continue in future years, covers the interest payments on borrowing from the markets but there is a real risk that this will be unsustainable in the future.

Despite claims to the contrary from our political opponents, Liberal Democrats have never suggested cuts to the Police service. In the past 4 years we have recommended that the mayor actually increases investment in tackling crime, particularly violent crime, in the capital and we will do so again this year.

Crime remains the top concern of Londoners and it remains the Liberal Democrats' too. The grant settlement from the Labour government has meant that that their pledge to invest in extra neighbourhood policing will have to be met by you, the London council taxpayer. Because we support the safer neighbourhoods proposals, which sees more visible policing across the capital, we support this scheme and hope that the mayor and the Labour party recognise this must be properly funded to enable the expansion to continue.

As part of our budget proposals, the Liberal Democrats would increase spending on the police service. The extra money would be spent on tackling the very real fear of violent crime people feel in this city.

We also want to cut the amount of inefficiency and waste that has blighted much of what the Mayor has done in London. There has been a huge amount spent on projects that have not provided real improvements to front line services and this is what we, as Liberal Democrats, object to most. The money you pay to the Mayor in taxes should allow you to see real improvements in your life. If this is not happening, then what is Ken Livingstone as Mayor actually for?