Greater London Authority

(the information below has been provided by the Greater London Authority)

Boris Johnson’s third budget continues to deliver on his priority to provide taxpayer value and protect front line services. For three years running he has frozen the GLA’s element of the council tax for residents of the 32 London boroughs, as well as fulfilling his manifesto commitment that Band D households would continue to pay only 38p a week for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In the current economic climate the public sector must do more with less, delivering improved public services for no extra cost. The Mayor will continue to invest in his priorities by increasing front-line policing levels, improving public transport, investing in new local green spaces to make our city cleaner and greener, working to increase young people's opportunities and ensuring the 2012 Games leave a lasting legacy to lengthen London's lead as the World's Best Big City.

Council Tax and Budget Information

The GLA’s take of the council tax for Band D is £309.82 or £5.96 a week. The table below shows how the Council Tax (at Band D) is allocated:

Council Tax

2010/11

Change

2011/12

GLA

30.91

-0.58

30.33

MPA (Police)

216.83

11.12

227.95

LFEPA (Fire)

59.57

-7.37

52.20

TFL (Transport)

4.02

-2.03

1.99

Collection funds

-1.51

-1.14

-2.65

Toltal Band D amount

£309.82

£0.00

£309.82

A Band D council tax payer in the City of London, which has its own police force, and therefore does not fund the Metropolitan Police, will pay £81.87.

Restructuring City Hall and Controlling Costs

The Mayor has put value for money at the very heart of his administration and has controlled costs tightly as well as ruthlessly cutting out waste. City Hall has been streamlined to deliver his priorities to Londoners more efficiently and effectively.

These back office savings have released money which is being used to deliver the Mayor’s key priorities including: supporting three new Rape Crisis Centres; delivering 50,000 more affordable homes in 2012 - the largest number in a single Mayoral term, upgrading 50 sporting facilities prior to the 2012 Games to increase participation in sports and improving 11 rundown parks alongside planting 10,000 street trees to enhance London's public realm.

Policing

The Mayor’s first priority is to make London safer. This budget enables the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) to continue to focus resources on preventing violence against women and young people and reducing the levels of gang, knife and gun crime.

Support for local policing through Safer Neighbourhood Teams will be maintained in order to boost confidence in the Police Service. The Metropolitan Police will have the resources to recruit more warranted officers, putting an extra 400 uniformed police onto London's public transport network. Police officer numbers will be maintained at higher levels in 2011/12 than when the current Mayor came into office.

London’s Transport System

In the face of a challenging public spending round, fare rises have remained as modest as possible in order to give Transport for London a predictable and steady funding stream to maintain the investment needed to improve London's transport system. All existing free and concessionary travel schemes, including the 24-hour Freedom Pass for older and disabled Londoners, free bus travel for those under 16 and half price bus travel for Londoners who are on income related benefits have been protected.

The Mayor has fought for and secured a four year funding settlement from the Government which maintains investment in London's transport infrastructure including:

  • the financing of the main construction works for the Crossrail project, which will increase London’s rail capacity by over ten per cent;
  • the completion of the upgrade of the Tube network completing the delivery of new air conditioned trains for the District, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines; 
  • completing the planned extensions of the Docklands Light Railway to Stratford International and the East London Line to Clapham Junction and Highbury & Islington;
  • maintaining bus mileage at current levels and tackling overcrowding on the Croydon Tramlink
  • making London a genuinely cycle-friendly city including extending the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme before the 2012 Games and delivering 12 cycle superhighways by 2015.

The Mayor has listened to the wishes of local residents and businesses and abolished the Western Extension to the Congestion Charge zone. He is also working with London boroughs to improve road safety and deliver improvements to London's road network.

2012 Olympics and Paralympics

The amount to be raised for the Games through the council tax remains at £20 – or 38p a week - for a Band D household. This delivers on the Mayor’s commitment that it would not increase. The GLA will seek to ensure the benefits of the Games are seen London-wide and leave a lasting legacy.

London Fire Brigade and Emergency Planning

The budget for the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) will protect front-line services in the London Fire Brigade. The Authority is building on its recent successes in reducing fires, fire deaths, arson attacks and hoax calls.

Summary of GLA Group Budget

The tables below provide information on the key funding sources for the GLA, including council tax and the reasons for the changes in the overall budget since last year.

How the budget is funded  £m
Gross Expenditure 13,101
Fares, charges and other income -5,945
Government grants for specific purposes -4,053
General Government grants -2,341
Use of reserves 181
Surplus in council tax collection funds -8
Amount met by council tax payers 935
Changes in spending £m
 2010/11 Budget requirement 3,263 
 Inflation 124
 Efficiencies and other savings -419
 Growth for existing services and new initiatives 395
 Other changes (including income growth) -80
2011/12 Budget requirement 3,283

The table below compares the GLA group's expenditure for the MPA, LFEPA and Other Services in 2011/12 with the previous year. Overall the budget requirement (funded from general grants and council tax) will increase by 0.4 per cent - a reductionin real terms of around three per cent based on expected retail price inflation levels in 2011/12. More information on the budget is available on the GLA website at www.london.gov.uk or on 020 7983 4000.

Summary of Spending and Income

 Police (MPA) Police (MPA) Fire (LFEPA) Fire (LFEPA) Other Services (incl. GLA and TfL) Other Services (incl. GLA and TfL) Total Total
£m 2010/11 2011/12 2010/11 2011/12 2010/11 2011/12 2010/11 2011/12
Gross expenditure 3,645.0 3,572.3 469.2 459.6 9,854.7 9,068.6 13,968.9 13,100.5
Specific government grants -606.6 -516.7 -10.8 -11.7 -4,030.7 -3524.9 -4,648.1 -4,053.3
Other income (incl. fares and charges) -360.9 -307.8 -21.1 -19.2 -5175.5 -5,618.1 -5,557.5 -5,945.1
Net expenditure 2,677.5 2,747.8 437.3 428.7 648.5 -74.4 3,763.3 3,102.1
Change to Level of Reserves -4.2 -34.8 0.0 -19.3 -496.1 235.5 -500.3 181.4
Budget requirement 2,673.3 2,713.0 437.3 409.4 152.4 161.1 3,263.0 3,283.5