{"id":535451,"date":"2025-10-29T12:40:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/535451\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:40:16","slug":"london-struggling-amid-challenges-with-policing-transport-and-housing-assembly-told","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/535451\/","title":{"rendered":"London struggling amid challenges with policing, transport and housing, assembly told"},"content":{"rendered":"

City Hall\u2019s budget and performance committee hears from experts about why the capital is not reaching its full potential, reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Viewcredit James Cracknell<\/p>\n

Police underfunding, plummeting transport revenue and overseas investors buying up London homes have seen the capital underperform against its full potential, the London Assembly has been told.<\/p>\n

Panellists told City Hall\u2019s budget and performance committee that Londoners are primarily being failed by several key structural factors and challenged Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan to either address them directly or lobby ministers to help out.<\/p>\n

The mayor is responsible for a total budget of \u00a320.7billion and is responsible for allocating funds for the Greater London Authority (GLA) and bodies such as Transport for London (TfL), the Mayor\u2019s Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) and the London Fire Commissioner.<\/p>\n

During the committee\u2019s annual session scrutinising the budget last week, stakeholders told London Assembly members about lingering issues with policing, transport, and housing.<\/p>\n

The Met Police has been compelled to slash key elements of its structure in recent months in a desperate bid to make up a \u00a3260million shortfall. Safer schools officers<\/a> have been canned, dedicated antisocial behaviour officers<\/a> have been redeployed and, most controversially, manned police station front counters<\/a> have been heavily reduced.<\/p>\n

Ian Wiggett, associate director at the World Policing Advisory, suggested that this wasn\u2019t the fault of City Hall or the Met Police. \u201cThe police budget across England and Wales is still below 2010 levels,\u201d he told members.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the way that budget has been allocated between forces has not been favourable to the Met. The capital city\u2019s grant hasn\u2019t kept pace, the precept has increased but is not producing the funding other forces get.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach year, Mopac and the Met are having to find emergency savings elsewhere. The Met keeps operating on that basis and can\u2019t seem to get out of this hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has meant that there is a significant shortfall in funding for rank-and-file police staff \u2013 those who answer the phones and do the paperwork \u2013 with the Met having the lowest proportion of these employees of any force.<\/p>\n

Wiggett added: \u201cIf you want to bring it in line with other forces, you either reduce the number of officers, or increase police staff \u2013 but there\u2019s no money to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you have more police officers, but they are answering phones. Their effect on the streets is less than you would hope it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a period where mass protests are commonly seen in central London, a higher proportion of the operational budget is now going to maintaining peace and order during demonstrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolicing is focused on the immediate challenge,\u201d Wiggett warned. \u201cThey keep worrying about the budget later.\u201d<\/p>\n

London\u2019s housing supply crisis is also well documented, with radical reforms set to take place so the city can keep up with increasing demand for homes. However, the London Assembly was told that stagnating housebuilding is only one part of the problem.<\/p>\n

Antonia Jennings, CEO of Centre for London, told the budget and performance committee that the capital\u2019s \u201cacute unaffordability crisis\u201d has also been caused by houses falling into the wrong hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe supply side is one of two overlapping crisis,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a real affordability distortion, with affordability to income ratio rising from 4.5 to twelve.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a huge amount of housing wealth concentration in the capital. Over-65s have gained \u00a3146billion in the last ten years and in 2024, 25% of property transactions involved overseas buyers. Together, that has created a situation where house prices have been decoupled from local demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khan looks set to make the controversial decision to slash affordability requirements<\/a> for developers, but it seems like that won\u2019t be a silver bullet for the city\u2019s housing market.<\/p>\n

On its website, TfL says it is \u201cone of the only transport authorities in the world able to cover our day-to-day operating costs ourselves, as well as most of our capital investment programme\u201d.<\/p>\n

This can be taken both as a boast and a complaint. Around 60% of operating income is generated by fares, far more than the transport body\u2019s international counterparts. Rider numbers have steadily increased since the UK came out of lockdown permanently but are still slightly below pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n

Panellists suggested that with commuters unlikely to return to a five-day pattern anytime soon, TfL needs to look at \u201cdiversifying their sources of income\u201d to be less reliant on fares.<\/p>\n

There is also the question of whether to effectively punish Londoners by increasing fares to make up TfL\u2019s shortfall, or to try and boost rider numbers by freezing or reducing fares.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Seager, programme director at BusinessLDN, said: \u201cIt is tempting to slash fares \u2013 but that means you are slashing investment. TfL must think about diversifying their sources of revenue beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were also calls for reforming various concessions enjoyed by different demographics. In August, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed that the discounted 60+ Oyster card<\/a> has cost the authority \u00a3206million in the last three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some oddities in the system \u2013 if you\u2019re over a certain age and a higher rate taxpayer, you get free travel into Central London,\u201d Seagar said.<\/p>\n

On the other end of the spectrum, those struggling financially are avoiding the tube and must be encouraged back on, assembly members were told.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe poorest Londoners pay the most for travel in the capital \u2013 18% of their income compared to 11% for the average Londoner,\u201d Ms Jennings said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrioritisation of those at the bottom must remain high. While fare freezes do a lot, they are costly \u2013 there could be a more progressive application. Free and concessionary travel must be protected and a low income discount could be introduced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Travers, the director of LSE London, added: \u201cWhat is linked to ridership is the health of the London economy \u2013 if it is growing, fare income will grow. But disposable income has not been growing fast enough, and combined with the pandemic, fare income has not increased as it has done in the last decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

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