The crunch issue at last weeks meeting between the European Commissioner for the Environment and a cross section of London politicians & NGOs, was “what do you do when a Government deliberately tries to mislead the Commission about the poor state of its environment?” Normally, this isn’t a big deal, as politicians and their civil […]
The curious case of Councillor Coleman’s piggy bank
A little reported feature of Boris Johnson’s budget this year is the switch in Council Tax precept income from LFEPA to the MPA, to the tune of £20m. Under normal circumstances, that would result in £20m in spending cuts to the fire service. But the plan is for that spending to be funded from accumulated […]
Devolving fines will strengthen London’s government
Government proposals to pass on fines incurred for breaking national and EU rules on matters such as air quality to local politicians are the logical next step in devolution and localism. Here in London we have a directly elected Mayor with an enormous budget and significant powers but, other than facing the electorate every four […]
Tree maintenance; not tree massacre
London Assembly Member and former Deputy Mayor of London Nicky Gavron warns that local council budget cuts could see a massacre of London’s trees and calls on boroughs to follow ‘best practice’ in maintaining this vital part of London’s environment.
Mayor puts squeeze on transport funding for road safety and local cycling budgets
London Assembly Member Jenny Jones argues that a recent cut in the level of City Hall funding for borough transport schemes will see valued schemes axed and risks slowing the take-up of cycling in the capital. The reason why a 29% cut in local transport budgets hardly makes a splash in the regional media is […]
