This afternoon, I led a debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee on Transport for London services.
This was in response to e-petition 331453 entitled "Scrap removal of free transport for under-18s from TfL bailout", and on behalf of the more than 170,000 people who had signed the petition including 1,272 people in Carshalton and Wallington.
Whilst the second Government bailout for TfL has kept free transport for under-18s, it was still important to discuss the issue, not least because it will be bound to be revisited at the next review of TfL's finances, and as pressure grows from areas outside of London which do not share the same benefit.
I am grateful to the Petitions Committee clerks who have conducted a survey amongst those who signed the petition, of which we had just over 3,000 responses as of the 27 November. Some key findings were:
- A zip card, or other form of concessionary travel, was reported to be 'very important' to access school or college by 93% of people.
- It was also reported to be 'very important' by almost 80% of people for accessing services, including medical appointments (79%) and for work, including apprenticeships and training placements (72%); and for over 60% of people for accessing leisure and extra-curricular activities (65%) and for socialising, including meeting family and friends (62%).
- If the 16+ Zip Card scheme was suspended, 71% of respondents said young people would find it ‘extremely difficult’ to access school or college; 57% said it would make it ‘extremely’ difficult to access work, including apprenticeships and training; and 61% said it would be ‘extremely difficult’ for young people to access services, including medical appointments.
Young people aged 18 and under and parents or carers of young people aged 18 and under were asked about the impact of the removal of concessionary travel on travel habits.
- Almost five times as many young people said they would use taxis frequently or very frequently, with the number of people who would use private car journeys frequently or very frequently more than doubling.
- The number of respondents who indicated they would cycle increased by 82%. There was no significant change in those who indicated they would walk.
- The survey also found a 60% reduction in those who said they would use the Tube, DLR, London Overground or TFL rail and a 56% decrease in those who said they would frequently or very frequently use the bus or tram.
We must ask ourselves how things got to this position.
Whilst passenger levels have risen since lockdown regulations were loosened, they have remained stubbornly far below normal pre-pandemic levels, and the recent re-imposition of an England-wide lockdown has again reduced passenger levels.
However, it is clear that TfL’s finances were mismanaged and in a terrible state even before the pandemic hit.
Londoners were, and are, being let down by a Mayor whose mismanagement of the capital's transport network has cost Transport for London billions of pounds in lost revenue, waste and bailouts, as well as the pursuit of transport policies the Mayor knew TfL could not afford.
There are countless of examples of this Mayor wasting money:
- He lost at least £640 million in revenue by freezing pay-as-you-go fares, a policy which subsidised tourist travel while Londoners saw the cost of their travel cards rise.
- Under Khan's management Crossrail has been delayed by nearly four years despite the project being on time and budget when he inherited from Boris Johnson.
- It was due to open in December 2018, after multiple delays it is not expected to open until mid-2022.
- The delay has cost TfL £3.9 billion in bailouts and £1.35 billion in lost fares revenue.
- TfL's debt rocketed to a record £11.7 billion after Khan maxed out its credit cards. By reaching its debt limit, TfL is unable to borrow more to invest in London's transport network.
- 21 major transport projects have been delayed or cancelled in the past four years as both a sign and a consequence of Sadiq Khan's financial mismanagement.
- The bill for TfL staff on trade union duties almost doubled under Sadiq Khan to a whopping £8.7 million.
- Under Sadiq Khan, TfL's nominee passes - a perk which lets staffs' housemates and lodgers travel for free on the tube network - cost an estimated £44 million in lost fares last year.
- The amount TfL spends on executive pay has ballooned. Under Sadiq Khan, the number of TfL and Crossrail staff paid over £100,000 has risen to 557 in 2019/20 compared to 458 in 2015/16.
- TfL's "performance-related pay" bonus has gone up by nearly a third - from £8.3 million in 2017 to £11.8 million in 2019.
- Fare dodging has cost TfL £400 million since May 2016 because Sadiq Khan failed to clamp down on it.
- TfL wasted £12.3 million on the Rotherhithe crossing, which was later scrapped, and £20 million on Woolwich Ferries, which Sadiq Khan admitted were plagued by faults.
The list goes on and this is only in transport!
As pointed out by our excellent candidate for Croydon and Sutton on the London Assembly, Neil Garratt, this mismanagement has had an enormous effect on Boroughs like Sutton.
In a London Assembly report released last year, it was shown that Sutton was dead last for investment from City Hall out of all the London Boroughs.
This means that the future of transport projects like the Tramlink extension to Sutton, which our London Assembly Member Steve O’Connell has been campaigning for for a long time is now in jeopardy.
It is clear that we are going to be living with the effects of the pandemic for some time – that includes transport in London.
The Government expects TfL to prepare proposals for achieving financial sustainability by 11 January 2021, in advance of a long-term solution for TfL’s finances being announced before this second bailout expires in March 2021.
This long-term package must address this huge wastage and not punish Londoners for the cost of this Mayor’s mismanagement.
However, ultimately, this comes down to the political choices of the Mayor, and in May next year, the petitioners will have the opportunity to choose between 4 more years of waste and higher costs with the current Mayor, or getting TfL’s finances under control and delivering a better deal for Londoners with Shaun Bailey.
You can watch my opening remarks of the debate in full above, or you can read the full transcript here.