Use City Hall savings to fund card payment machines for London’s Black Cabs
Posted by GLA Conservatives in News
£1.6m could be freed from the Mayor’s Budget to pay for new taxi tech
Changes to the upcoming Mayoral budget should be used to bring card payment machines to over 11,000 cabs without this technology, according to Gareth Bacon, GLA Conservatives budget spokesman.
New card payment machines could be funded by City Hall back office efficiencies but also by scrapping the over generous TfL “nominee pass”, which allows free travel for flatmates and lodgers of staff.
Millions pledged to kick start London’s self-build industry
£5m new funding for self-build and affordable homes on disused sites
The London Mayor has promised millions of pounds to help people build their own homes on redundant sites such as old laundries, garages and store sheds in London.
For the first time, £5m of funding for self-builders has been secured in the Mayor’s 2015/16 budget by GLA Conservative Gareth Bacon.
The cash is initially expected to support the building of about 150 homes on disused sites, and will be given to mainly subsidise construction costs. Bids to the GLA are open immediately.
Slash the cost of TfL perks and City Hall politics to help frontline workers, homeowners and taxpayers
· 2015/16: Use £20.81m savings for self-build homes fund, panic buttons for Tube workers and further council tax cuts
Money raised from cutting the cost of City Hall politics and scrapping free travel passes for flatmates of TfL staff should be used to help council taxpayers, frontline workers and aspiring home-owners, according to GLA Conservative Gareth Bacon.
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Budget: £10m for council tax cut, part-time Travelcards and affordable workspaces for start-ups
2014/15 costed proposals will slash over-the-top TfL perks and put cash into the pockets of Londoners
Money raised from scrapping the over generous TfL “nominee pass”, which allows free travel for flatmates and lodgers of staff, should be ploughed into helping council tax payers, commuters and start-up businesses, according to Gareth Bacon, GLA Conservatives budget spokesman.
The estimated £10m raised by cancelling the nominee pass scheme should be used to pay for the following tax-cutting and pro-business measures:
- £7m to further cut council tax. A 2.2% cut for 2014/15 (compared to the Mayor’s 1.3%), accelerating progress towards the Mayor’s 10% reduction target by 2016
- £1m to fund a feasibility study (including all technical assessments and financial modelling) into the introduction of part-time Travelcards and one-hour bus tickets
- £2m to pilot the conversion of 70 empty garages into affordable workshops and studios for start-ups and micro businesses
Gareth Bacon welcomes Boris Johnson's commitment for funding to help homeless veterans in London
Londonwide Assembly Member, Gareth Bacon, has today welcomed the Mayor of London’s announcement that £300,000 of City Hall’s rough sleeping budget will be committed to helping homeless individuals in London with a UK armed forces background. This follows the issue being raised by Gareth Bacon in his proposed alternative budget earlier this month.
Mr Bacon said, “I am thrilled that the Mayor has taken on board this important issue and that action will be taken in the coming year to help some of the most vulnerable people in London. The fact that any individuals who have served for our country end up sleeping rough is an injustice and I hope that City Hall programmes can work towards righting this wrong.”
Our additions to the GLA Budget
GLA Conservatives GLA Budget Amendments – Proposal to end free travel perks for second nominees at TfL & bringing the GLA Precept below £300 for band D properties for the first time since 2006:
Rogers Evans AM Speech During Mayors Question Time
Roger Evans AM for Havering and Redbridge discusses the issues he has with the proposed budget amendments from the Liberal Democrats (at 0:10), Green (at 1:32), and Labour party (at 2:30).
He speaks of the parties wish to raise and extend the congestion charge, and the missing information on how the Labour Party is to support its new fares deal.
Boris Johnson's MQT Speech
Mayor Boris Johnson
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Value for money and freezing the precept
Good morning
This administration has been dedicated to delivering value for Londoners’ money, and to leading the city to a strong economic recovery.
You must remember that in the last four years we have not only been dealing with the deepest recession for 50 years.
We have had to overturn and reform a culture of waste in City Hall.
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- More than 5,000 ppl signed the petition calling fr changes to the current CR2 proposals @KemiBadenoch @WimbledonNews https://t.co/JraHnbumBd
- .@KemiBadenoch receives a petition from @WimbledonNews and local residents opposing Crossrail 2 proposals https://t.co/NxaZBxwhrI
- .@SteveO_Connell says TfL's financial commitment 'is a sign that this plan is being taken seriously' https://t.co/EQf2Sfzlmb
