Although the majority of the Council Tax goes to fund local borough spending, the Mayor levies a precept to fund some Greater London Authority activities.
City Hall says almost three quarters of the £0.9 billion raised by the GLA’s precept will go to the Met to “help them to continue to build on to their success of reducing crime to the lowest level in the capital for over 12 years”.
A majority of the Committee agreed a response to the Mayor’s consultation draft budget for 2010/11 which says the capital is suffering from a combination of the effects of the recession and increasing costs of upgrading the Tube network.
The response, which is opposed by Conservatives on the Assembly, warns the Mayor “may already be pushing at the limits of efficiency savings possible at Transport for London”. The capital’s transport body has been asked to make £5billion of savings by 2017/18.
John Biggs AM, Chair of the Budget and Performance Committee, said: “Many Londoners are pleased about the Mayor’s decision to freeze the precept for the second time in these difficult times, but it remains to be seen just how long he is able to keep it up without affecting the capital’s essential front line services.”
Last week the Mayor told AMs he’s “delivering more for less” despite increasing bus fares for the second year running.
