20 December 2002
Livingstone unveiled his proposed 2003/04 budget for the Greater London Authority on December 13. He has asked for an extra £63 per year from every Londoner in the typical Band D council tax household. It would take London's mayoral precept for Band D to £236 – up from £173 in 2002/03 – and give the GLA a total budget of £2.7bn.
But some London Assembly members have vowed to fight the proposals before the budget is finalised in February.
The mayor's office claimed the biggest reason for the potential rise was a hike in the cost of running the Metropolitan Police Service, which has increased to around £1m per week in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Under Livingstone's proposals, Londoners would each contribute £160 of the precept towards policing.
With London's boroughs looking to make up a perceived shortfall in cash following the recent local government finance settlement, it means average council tax bills in London – which stood at £911.87 for the 2002/03 financial year – could top £1,000 for the first time in 2003/04, GLA members claimed.
Livingstone said his budget accounted for 1,200 extra police officers, as well as significant rises in transport investment.
'Over the past 15 months, police have faced a particularly daunting task in the front line of protecting Londoners against terrorism as well as combating crime. Continued investment is essential to equip them to meet these twin challenges,' he said.
But GLA members said Livingstone's proposal was 'unjustifiable' because increased spending on police in the past two years had not reduced crime.
Sally Hamwee, GLA deputy leader and chair of the finance committee, said: 'You cannot keep throwing money at the police and hope for the best. The mayor should be setting targets to reduce crime and link them to the increases in the money the police receive.'
PFdec2002
