London Assembly pleads with DfT to secure TfL long-term funding as money runs out on Friday
The London Assembly has made a last-ditch effort and pleaded with the Department for Transport (DfT) to agree to a long-term funding deal for Transport for London (TfL).
Caroline Pidgeon, chair of the assembly’s transport committee, said that without a long-term financial deal the public body would be paralysed, as funding is set to expire on Friday.
“Due to the continued short-term funding agreements, TfL cannot plan ahead to efficiently and effectively procure necessary services and investment” she said argued this morning in a letter to transport secretary Grant Shapps. “There is an inherent inefficiency to this way of working.”
According to Pidgeon, without long-term backing TfL would not recover from a state of managed decline causing a “downward spiral that is very difficult to recover from” and includes severe cuts to services.
“The security of a long-term funding agreement is required urgently, so that TfL can plan and allocate resources, in order to provide Londoners with the reliable and efficient transport network they deserve,” she added.
Pidgeon’s comments came two days after London mayor Sadiq Khan decided to increase fares by 4.8 per cent from 1 March.
Expected to bring around £500m into TfL’s pockets, the rise will help the body become financially self-sufficient by 2023/2024, saving it from a £1.5bn financial black hole.