The £15bn budget is drawn up by the Mayor in line with his policies and spending priorities but must be approved by the Assembly.
Any amendments to the budget must be supported by a two-thirds majority in favour of a tabled alternative.
If no amendment secures support the Mayor’s budget is deemed to have been approved.
Last week Mayor Boris Johnson revised his plans to include a £3.10 cut in his share of the Council Tax meaning the Council Tax precept will be £306.72 per household in the coming financial year.
This will be allocated as follows: £228.10 to the Metropolitan Police Service, £39.54 for the London Fire Brigade, £20 for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and £19.08 for transport and other services.
Speaking after Thursday’s meeting, the Mayor said: “Delivering value for money for Londoners, whilst also protecting frontline services such as policing and transport infrastructure has been possible thanks to the sensible and careful savings we have made over the past four years.”
However critics have dismissed the Mayor’s council tax cut as “a mouse of a cut” and say he hasn’t done enough to reduce waste within the GLA.
Liberal Democrat AM Mike Tuffrey said: “The Mayor has failed to share with Londoners the fruits of the central government grant and he has failed to make real savings in the huge budgets he controls.”
Tuffrey was one of the backers of a successful motion which condemned the Mayor for failing “to include the many individual initiatives proposed by the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green party groups, nor taken up the items for savings identified by them.”
The motion was backed by Labour AM John Biggs who said: “The Assembly is disappointed that the Mayor has not properly responded to the legitimate concerns of Londoners as expressed by their elected Assembly Members. Budget making inevitably involves hard choices but we feel that the Mayor could have made a better balanced decision.”
