Cut back precept increase to 17.5%

12.00.00am GMT Wed 22nd Jan 2003

The Lib Dems have proposed that the Mayor identify areas of his draft budget where economies can be made and to cut his proposed council tax precept increase by more than half from 38.4% to 17.5%.

This would result in an increase of 53p per week on Band D council tax and provide adequate funding to ensure the effective delivery of services.

Sally Hamwee, Lib Dem budget spokesperson said: "The Mayor has failed to deliver improved services as effectively as he should have done, and has failed to achieve a proper balance between spending for the benefit of Londoners and taking from their pockets."

"We call on him to strive for increased efficiency savings and to seek for the most effective ways of spending what is available.

"Londoners (who are both taxpayers and voters) are not impressed by undisciplined budgeting, by unnecessary publicity which goes far beyond simple information, or by budgets which are skewed by electoral timetables."

"Our proposals would mean cutting the Mayor's proposed precept increase by more than half (from 38.4% to 17.5%). We regard this as a starting point for the Mayor who is in a position to deliver changes which will improve Londoners' quality of life."

"The Liberal Democrats full amendment to the Mayor's budget:"

"Mayor's Budget – Fails to deliver, costs too much The Mayor has failed, in the view of the Liberal Democrats, to use the resources available to him to deliver improved services as effectively as he should have done, and has failed to achieve a proper balance between spending for the benefit of Londoners and taking from their pockets."

"We call on him, both in his final budget and in his work with the Functional Bodies and the GLA throughout the year, to strive for increased efficiency savings and to seek for the most effective ways of spending what is available."

"Transport – Crack down on waste, more for road safety and solving congestion charging boundary problems"

"In Transport for London, the Mayor chairs a body which is heading in the near future for a massive hole in its budget, apparently without robust proposals to plug it; that is not responsible. His leadership has not created a body which is on top of its spending, and we consider that he should be setting TfL a higher target for efficiencies, excluding new proposals which are not fully developed, and be realistic about likely slippage and over-programming. We also believe he should be requiring TfL to concentrate more on "core" work such as road safety, and providing funds so that, where necessary, swift action can be taken to ameliorate local impacts of the Congestion Charging Scheme which we, with its other supporters, think is unlikely to be problem-free. Government funding for transport has increased substantially, and the Mayor should reduce TfL's call on the precept to the minimum that technical considerations require."

"Police – Continued investment, better financial management"

"We acknowledge public concern about levels of crime, while noting that the financial management of the Police, improved from its position 3 years ago, has much further to go. We recognise that the recruitment of extra officers will take some time to be evident to the public, and that counter-terrorism measures must have high priority. We support continuing investment in the Police, but believe that the Mayor must resist the temptation to rely on simplistic headlines about officer numbers if this substantial budget is to be used to its greatest effect."

"LFEPA – Central Government must fund resilience measures LFEPA has itself sought a lower budget than the Mayor proposes. We support the Mayor's call for the government to bear the "resilience" costs associated with the national priority of preparedness for catastrophic incidents, and wish to strengthen his hand in negotiations by deleting that item from the budget."

"Core GLA – Live within its means"

"The Greater London Authority itself is now an established body and should not seek to expand. The new work that is to be done should be contained within its existing budget (subject to inflation) even if this means hard choices and rigorous setting of priorities."

"Precept – Mayor should listen to Londoners' concerns about excessive costs"

"We call on the Mayor to acknowledge that Londoners (who are both taxpayers and voters) are not impressed by undisciplined budgeting, by unnecessary publicity which goes far beyond simple information, or by budgets which are skewed by electoral timetables. Our proposals would mean cutting the Mayor's proposed precept increase by more than half (from 38.4% to 17.5%). We regard this as a starting point for the Mayor who is in a position to deliver changes which will improve Londoners' quality of life and to respond to concerns as to their cost.