A new report from the House of Commons Transport Committee into February’s snowfalls which resulted in the capital’s bus services being suspended accuses Mayor of London Boris Johnson of a “lack of leadership” in his handling of the issue.
The report finds that: “There are ways in which the response to heavy snow and its impact on traffic can be improved. However, these are to do with planning and co-ordination, not increased spending. Our witnesses were very clear that extra money, increased salt stocks or more snow ploughs are not the solution to dealing with snow and ice on UK roads. “
Today’s report follows an earlier investigation by the London Assembly which found the capital could have recovered faster from last month’s snow storms had coordination between boroughs, Transport for London and the emergency services been better,
During his appearance before the committee Mayor Johnson rebutted claims that he had let Londoners down and said it wasn’t “within my competence to stop the biggest downfall of snow we have had over the skies of this city for 20 years.”
At one stage Louise Ellman, the chairman of the committee, ordered the Mayor to remain seated as he appeared to consider walking out. At the time Ellman said the Mayor’s behaviour was “unacceptable,”
In their report MPs accuse Johnson of being “reluctant to appear before this committee”and say they’re “disappointed at the Mayor’s apparent disregard for scrutiny work”, calling on him “to adopt a more open and constructive approach” to scrutiny.
Responding to the report a spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “The Mayor feels that the committee have taken a partisan and wholly opportunistic approach.”
In their recommendations the Committee say: “We hope that, upon reflection, the Mayor will acknowledge that the transport situation in the capital on 1 and 2 February was unsatisfactory. While many of the factors leading to the transport disruption were unavoidable, more active strategic leadership and preparation could have given more confidence and may have enabled more public transport services to be restored more quickly.”
The Mayor’s spokesperson said: “With the benefit of hindsight it is even clearer to the Mayor that putting buses on icy roads, which could not be cleared, would have been irresponsible, dangerous and potentially lethal. The Mayor is pleased that today we are arguing over a select committee report, rather than giving evidence at an inquest into why Londoners have been injured unnecessarily on the icy roads.”
TawkinSenz says
May 29, 2009 at 12:30 pmI know we’ve all been here before – but Boris’s excuse is:
“it wasn’t within my competence to stop the biggest downfall of snow we have had over the skies of this city for 20 years.”
….now 20 years ago I was about 15 and in London when this snow fell and guess what…..the buses still ran on that day. I don’t remember the exact day, but I do remember the buses haven’t stopped running in London during my lifetime – so I know they ran that snowy day, which was WORSE than the snow we had last year.
So with older buses, worse communication tools, less gritting technology, worse roads, less experience, less accurate weather forecasting and no Mayor of London who has the power to co-ordinate – the buses ran without problems.
20 years later, with all the advantages listed above – they didn’t run.
The lack of transport that day came down to one thing – PLANNING. The weather was known about days in advance and the councils could have had the bus routes gritted. Once the buses are running they tend to keep the cleared routes clear themselves. Sadly most of them couldn’t get out of the bus depot.
There are no excuses – this was wholly down to mis-management at the top. Boris doesn’t pay attention in his briefings – in fact whenever I have seen him he doesn’t seem to be paying attention at all!
Fortunately this was one event that cost us all a days pay – not too bad.
….but what about the next issue we are faced with in London where Boris didn’t pay attention in the briefing and it costs London again?
It might be a lot more serious next time – which is why the people need to understand the root cause of the snow episode – BORIS.
Martin Paling says
May 29, 2009 at 10:18 pmI’m sure I posted this on MW at the time. I live in a very rural area. The village i’m in has one road in and out of it and at one end it’s a steep twisting lane… the Buses ran here during the snow. That they didn’t in London is laughable!