London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM called on Boris Johnson to accept amendments to his 2015/16 Budget that would put an extra 1,000 police officers on London’s streets and cut transport fares by 2.5%.  The fully-funded plans were set out during a debate at City Hall on Wednesday when Assembly Members had the opportunity to propose amendments to the Mayor’s £17bn Budget for 2015/16.

The proposal to fund an extra 1,025 police officers would mean the equivalent of an additional 33 officers back on the streets of Westminster and in every other London Borough. The proposals came amid concerns that violent crime in Westminster has risen by 21% in the last year and reports that only 61% of local people now believe police have a visible presence on the street. There has been growing public unease with the Mayor’s cuts to local neighbourhood policing, which have contributed to the loss of 4,333 uniformed officers across London since 2010, 729 of these in Westminster.

Amongst other policy proposals Murad Qureshi AM supported plans to change Boris Johnson’s Budget and freeze fares at 2014 levels, reversing the 2.5% hike imposed on London’s commuters earlier this year. The cut to travel costs would give Londoners a year of much needed respite from fare rises, saving the average commuter £56 a year on a 1-6 Annual Travelcard. A recent study found that 76% of Londoners say fares are now ‘too high’ following the 40% rise in ticket costs since Boris Johnson came to power.

The fully-funded package of amendments to the Mayor’s Budget included freezing GLA’s share of council tax and putting the money saved by cancelling the Mayor’s proposed cut (which would save just 1p per day for each London household) into funding for the 1,000 new police officers. This would be boosted by additional funding drawn from a combination of savings within the Met’s existing budget, and from business rates. The 2.5% cut to fares would be funded by using TfL underspends of £81m, and increasing the target for savings, putting £98m back in to the pockets of Londoners.

Though blocked at last week’s meeting, the Mayor has the opportunity to revisit the proposals on 23^rd February when the London Assembly comes together for a final vote on the Mayor’s £17bn budget.

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour Londonwide Assembly Member, said: 

“The Mayor’s Budget as it stands does nothing to address the serious concerns people in Westminster have about rising transport costs and a grossly diminished police force – two of the most serious issues facing London today. What Londoners want is a Budget which tackles these concerns head on, that is what our proposals seek to do.

“Funding an extra 1,000 police officers on London’s streets could mean the equivalent of 33 additional officers for our area. This could hugely influence our ability to tackle rising violent crime in Westminster and would provide much needed reassurance to people concerned about the impact of Boris Johnson’s cuts to the police force.

“This January Londoners faced the seventh year of fare increases under Boris Johnson. There is ample funding as a result of TfL underspends, so it is bewildering that Boris has allowed fares to rise faster than wages. With 76% of Londoners believing that fares are now ‘too high’, it is essential that we offer some respite to those struggling to cope with the costs of commuting. Cutting fares back to 2014 levels would help reduce pressure on those anxious that their pay-cheques will not stretch to cover Boris’ year on year fare hikes.

“Whilst Boris’ tokenistic council tax cut would save Londoners seven pence a week, cutting fares to last year’s levels would save the average commuter far more each year. It’s clear which would leave most people in Westminster better off. ”
ENDS

Notes

• The summary of the Budget Amendment to be proposed at Wednesday’s meeting by John Biggs AM reads:

– Transport – We would reverse the Mayor’s 2.5% increase in transport fares that Boris Johnson has already announced for 2015-16. Instead, we would freeze fares at their current level putting £98m back in to pockets of hard-pressed Londoners, and restore the off-peak PAYG caps for zones 4-6. In order to benefit all Londoners, we would create a fund for more step free stations and put a further £20m into the cycling budget. To increase bus services for London’s poorest communities we propose to add 30 more hybrid buses to the fleet this year. We are keenly aware of the high levels of pollution in London and would therefore accelerate the process of cleaning up our aging bus fleet. We are clear that this re-balancing of costs between travellers and the corporate vaults of City Hall is affordable and right.

– Policing – We would freeze the GLA’s share of the council tax at the 2014-15 level and use the £10.54m it generates to help free-up resources across the GLA family. These resources would enable us to provide London with over 1000 much-needed additional police officers. An average over 30 new police officers per borough.

– Housing – We would tackle London’s chronic housing shortage by establishing a GLA-backed Housing Investment Company to directly commission the construction of new homes in addition to those currently built by Housing Associations using GLA affordable housing grants. We would also drive up standards for private tenants by investing in new programmes to tackle sub-standard properties. Furthermore, because no tenant should fear the consequences of a rogue landlord, we would empower tenants – the consumer – by giving them more information on rogue landlords and better access to legal representation, and by driving London’s worst landlords out of the market.

– Economy – We would take genuine action to increase job opportunities in London through introducing a young person’s jobs guarantee, providing help for older Londoners to retrain and by reducing the excessive cost of childcare, which prevents many parents from returning to work. We would also introduce universal free school meals for all primary school age pupils in London, which would increase educational attainment, address food poverty and help parents who are struggling with the cost of living.

– Environment – Recognising the imminent threat of climate change, London’s air quality crisis, and the increasing difficulty that many Londoners – particularly those on fixed incomes, such as pensioners – face heating their homes, we propose a research project in to the creation of community energy cooperatives in London; a London air quality study aimed at creating a bigger, stronger, ULEZ; the Clean Air Routes to School programme, which recognises and seeks to mitigate the effects of poor air quality on school children; the establishment of a GLA London ‘noise team’ to focus on aviation that blights the lives of many in the capital; and funding the H.E.A.T (Home Energy Advice Team) to help those in fuel poverty improve insulation in their homes and obtain the best energy tariffs.

– Education – We would provide grants to schools whose students face socio-economic barriers to academic attainment through the Supplementary Programmes for Schools (Leadership clubs) and out of hours tuition fund; replace the Mayor’s elitist ‘Gold Club of Schools’ programme with the GLA Education Kitemark scheme for schools that require and demonstrate improvement in a short space of time as part of the family of local authority schools; and introduce a schools matching unit to assist in matching new schools with the closest existing outstanding academy, rather than allow private companies to take over new schools in Mayoral approved developments.

– Health – We would invest further in reducing health inequalities and bridging the divide between physical and mental health services. We would form a London Health Inequalities Unit to monitor and address unfair health inequalities across London. We would commission a Mental Health Strategy for London to determine what is and what is not working for Londoners. The results of which would be used to establish a pan-London approach to mental health issues and connect the currently fragmented and dysfunctional system.

While at the centenary birthday of Warwick Avenue tube station this past Saturday, l noticed the soiled seating of Bakerloo trains again.

l had asked TfL via the Mayor before the Christmas break, that as l regular user of the Bakerloo line l had notice there are an increasing number of soiled seats on the trains and is there a planned program for refurbishing train seats on this line and if so when?

I was told the seats on Bakerloo line trains are due to be replaced starting from January 2015 and the seats are cleaned regularly as part of ongoing maintenance. Well l have not seen site of either and we are already in February.

Increasingly l notice people not seating down as the seats are so soiled. So maybe someone at TfL can get up and sort this out asap for the users of the Bakerloo line. As its right and proper that we celebrate the 100th birthday of the Bakerloo line extension in North West London but shouldn’t forget the service level presently suffered by its users.

While Paddington Bear the Movie is busily putting Paddington onto the map globally, Westminster City Council is busily expanding the West End into Paddington as it poses the question if employment is to grow significantly in the West End, where should this growth go?

The consultation on this matter began just before the christmas break with the above diagram illustrating well what is intended, if you look at the top-left hand corner of map marked ” West End Fringe potential”. So it is clear that Westminster City Council want to expand the West End into Paddington and in particular Wards like Church Street. Taking a strategic London perspective, expansion into the City of London would make better sense as you will not have the conflict with a residential community in the evening and weekend over issues like licensing and rubbish collection with the dining, entertainment and the evening and night-time economy.

Any growth needs to respect the existing communities and support them, tackling deprivation and inequalities. These needs particularly need to be taken on board with floorspace demands for creative and digital industries which is anticipated would need to be accommodated in this expansion of the West End.

What local residents in Church Street Ward will certainly do not want when getting absorbed into the West End, is West End prices for food and accommodation!



Violent crime in Westminster has risen by 22 per cent over the last year according to figures published by Metropolitan Police. The rise means an additional 1550 violent crimes in Westminster over the last twelve months rising from 6912 in 2012/13 to 8462 in 2013/14.

Across London, violent crime is up by 24% with 35,330 additional crimes Londonwide and rises in every borough.

The spike in violent crime comes after years of cuts to police resources with the latest figures showing the number of uniformed police and PCSOs in Westminster has fallen by 729 since the last General Election in May 2010.

The Met has previously said increased reporting of domestic violence and reclassification of crimes may account for the rise yet the increase in Domestic Violence reports in the last 12 months accounts for only a third of the overall violent crime rise across London.

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London Wide London Assembly Member, said: 

“The 22 per cent rise in violent crime in Westminster over the past year is extremely disturbing, it means an extra 1550 violent crimes compared with the year before. Equally as worrying is the fact Boris Johnson doesn’t seem to have a real handle on why violent crime is rising.

“If this had been a dramatic change in recording we would expect to see a one off spike. Instead what we are seeing is a worrying trend developing with overall violent crime across most categories on the up.

“Violent crime includes some of the most serious and worrying offences and people in Westminster are right to be concerned. The Mayor of London needs to see the jump in violent crime for what is, not a statistical anomaly but a growing problem they should be actively addressing.”

Metropolitan Police crime figures can be found here: http://maps.met.police.uk/tables.htm

• 17,000 A&E patients across London wait more than 4 hours
• 15 of 19 Trusts miss the target to see 95% of patients within 4 hour target

New NHS A&E waiting time figures have revealed that 1,067 A&E patients were left waiting longer than 4 hours in Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust A&Es this Christmas. In the week before and week of Christmas 1,067 patients missed the 4 hour target. That meant that across the two weeks 25 per cent of patients were left waiting longer than 4 hours.

Labour London Wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said A&Es services across London had seen a “Christmas of crisis” and called on the Government to take urgent action to improve the situation. Across the capital only 4 of the 19 NHS Trusts with A&E departments managed to meet the Government target to see 95% of patients within 4 hours, with 17,000 patients waiting longer than the 4 hour target.

The Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust includes the A&E unit at St Mary’s Hospital serving residents in Westminster.

Responding to the new Christmas A&E waiting time figures, London Assembly Labour Member Murad Qureshi AM said:

“With 1,067 patients waiting longer than 4 hours its clear Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust A&E services have faced a Christmas of crisis as a result of the strain they are operating under. Whilst Boris and colleagues in Parliament are sitting idly by demand for A&E services is rocketing. We must of course urge patients only to resort to A&E in genuine emergencies, but with GP surgeries also being stretched it is clear we need action rather than more empty words from the Government.

“With A&E departments like St Mary’s rapidly approaching breaking point, it is lunacy that the Government is set to close more A&Es this year. Last year’s closures have resulted in 17,000 patients in London waiting longer than 4 hours over Christmas.

“Patients in Westminster are paying for years of costly reorganisation and health service closures. The Government must change course before the NHS crisis we are experiencing in Westminster becomes permanent fixture.”

• Murad Qureshi AM calls for Mayor to scrap 2.5% fare rise to save the average commuter £56 a year on a 1-6 Annual Travelcard
• Fare freeze can be funded without cuts to other areas through use of £98m of expected underspends and additional TfL fares income
• Since 2008 fares have risen over 40% with 76% of Londoners now saying fares are ‘too high’

With the majority of Londoners returning to work this week, Labour London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi has called on the Mayor of London to scrap his latest fares hike after a new report found that 76% of Londoners now believe fares are “too high”. The report, ‘The case for a Fare Freeze’ found that the 40% increase in fares under Boris Johnson has left many Londoners struggling to cope with the cost of commuting. Murad Qureshi has urged the Mayor to use expected TfL underspends and additional income to reverse this year’s 2.5% fare increase and freeze fares at 2014 levels.

The call comes as Londoners returning to work after the holiday season face an average 2.5% increase in their commuting costs. Murad Qureshi said that after seven years of increases under Boris Johnson and with fare growth outstripping wages the Mayor would be failing Londoners who are struggling to cope with the cost of commuting if he did not reverse the rise and cap fares at 2014 levels. The move could be funded, Murad Qureshi said, by utilising £98m of the £309m in better-than-expected fare income and TfL underspends estimated to be accumulated in 2015/16. In the Mayor’s first five budgets, TfL underestimated fares income and overestimated operating costs; expenditure was £1,069m (3.69%) less than expected and income from fares £235m (1.36%) more than expected. Assuming this trend continues there would be more than enough unallocated funding in 2015/16 to freeze fares at 2014 levels.

A survey of 1,219 Londoners carried out for the report found that 76% of Londoners now think the cost of travel in the capital is too high. One woman from Westminster who responded to the survey said that “even with my student discount, I pay £21 per week to get around Zones 1 and 2. That’s about a quarter of my weekly wages”.

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London Wide Assembly Member, said: 

“For seven years under Boris Johnson fare increases have outstripped wage growth forcing commuters to spend more of their pay-cheque travelling to work.

“The Mayor’s decision to raise fares for the seventh year running will put even more pressure on Westminster residents struggling to cope with the cost of commuting. With 76% of Londoners believing fares are too high, a freeze for 2015 would give them a much needed break from the annual rise in fares.

“Whilst money is tight, I do not believe the answer is to take more from Londoners’ pockets – especially when TfL is expected to be sitting on millions in underspends and additional fares income.

“In 2016 London will elect a new Mayor who will have the opportunity to map out a four year plan for their fares strategy for their term of office. Until then a fares freeze this year would give Londoners some much needed respite from rising travel costs without harming the network’s upgrade and expansion plans.”

ENDS

Notes

–       Since 2008, when the current Mayor came to power, tube passengers have seen fares rise by 37%; bus passengers by 47%. On average fares are up 40% since 2008.

–         Freezing Fares at 2014 levels would cost TfL £98 million in forgone revenue. This could be paid for by utilising £98m of the £309m expected to accumulate from better-than-expected fares income and TfL underspends in 2015/16. TfL consistently overestimates its operating expenditure and underestimates its income from fares. In the Mayor’s first five budgets, expenditure has been £1,069m (3.69%) less than expected & income from fares has been £235m (1.36%) more than expected. On this basis we calculate that TfL will underspend by up to 246m this year with additional fares income of up to £63m. This would leave up to £309m which could be used to pay for a year-long fare freeze that will help Londoners, particularly those on lower incomes, make ends meet in 2015, without hitting its capital expenditure or reserves.

–     For the report 1,219 Londoners were surveyed asking whether they thought fares were ‘too high’, ‘about right’ or ‘too low’. 924 (76%) said too high, 289 (24%) said about right and only 6 (0.5%) said too low.

–       The full report, The case for a Fares Freeze, is available here.

• Murad Qureshi is a Labour London Wide Assembly Member

The Romna Restaurant has been a long established Indian restaurant in Marylebone since 1969 frequented by many local residents & many black cab drivers. When l went to visit the restaurant myself one friday evening in early November, l was shocked to find it was completely empty on what is supposed to be one of the busiest evenings in the week for restaurants. The staff immediately pointed out the very large hire bike docking stations immediately outside the premises which l use myself, as having a devastating effect on business. It has not only left no room for diners to stop outside if travelling by car but has also had a detrimental effect on suppliers ability to deliver at all.

I have supported all efforts to promote cycling in central London, however there is a balance to be struck in this particular instance.  In this case l would suggest half the docking station moved to another location along Seymour Street. Clearly the Romna business and probably residents had not been consulted about the location in the first place and its not good enough to be in touch with the local borough as the TfL responded to me when l asked.  So l can see a bit of a local campaign starting here to help the Romma Restaurant business.

Labour London wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi has condemned the Mayor of London’s announcement that tube station ticket offices in Westminster would close from February 2015 alongside huge cuts to staffing levels. Despite Boris Johnson’s election pledge not to close any of the tube network’s ticket offices, it was announced last week that all of Westminster’s ticket offices will be closed by December resulting in hundreds fewer tube staff in stations. 

The closures timeline announced by TfL means that the process for closing the ticket offices in 31 stations in the borough will start in February next year. The closures will also see almost 900 staff cut from the tube stations. Murad Qureshi has expressed particular concern about the impact the staff cuts will have on disabled and elderly passengers.

Despite the reduced staff service planned for tube stations, fares are once again due to go up just a month before the closures start, this will mean fares have risen 40% since Boris Johnson became Mayor.

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London wide Assembly Member, said: 

“More people than ever are using the tube network yet Boris Johnson’s cuts will mean hundreds fewer staff there to help passengers. It is outrageous that just a month after Londoners face another round of fare rises, Boris Johnson plans to cut the service they are offered. It’s a real case of the Mayor asking Londoners to pay more and get less in return.

“This fight isn’t about whether staff are based in ticket offices or on platforms, it’s about whether there are enough staff overall to provide customers with a good service, particularly the elderly and disabled.

“Before he was elected Boris Johnson promised voters that he would not close any of the capital’s ticket offices, now he is set to axe them all. Londoners will have to ask how much the Mayor’s word is really worth.”

ENDS 

Notes

The full timetable for ticket office closures is available here. Murad Qureshi is a Labour London wide Assembly Member.

London wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM has accused the Mayor of leaving renters “at the mercy of landlords” after new Shelter figures revealed that 1 in 47 private renters in Westminster face eviction each year. Murad Qureshi’s comments come six months after Boris Johnson launched his voluntary London Rental Standard (LRS) which, despite aims to get 100,000 of London’s 300,000 landlords signed up to better protections for tenants, has only 13,499 landlords on board according to the most recent City Hall figures. 

The new research shows that in total 1460 privately renting households in Westminster faced claims of eviction last year, Shelter found this meant 1 in 47 Westminster households facing eviction.

The report from housing charity Shelter found that the high cost and volatile nature of the London house rental market meant that “it can take just one thing, like losing your job or falling ill, to put your home at risk.” Since 2011 private sector rents in London have soared by 21% and recent estimates found that 39% of private rented sector tenants now live in poverty – a larger share than in either the social or owner-occupying tenures.

Murad Qureshi said the number of people facing dramatic rent rises and evictions showed that the capitals rental market wasn’t working for many Londoners. He criticised the Mayor of London’s voluntary approach to landlord regulation and called for stronger statutory protection for private renters.

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour London wide Assembly Member, said: 

“The fact that 1 in 47 renters in Westminster have faced eviction in the last year shows how challenging it can be to rent in the capital. Boris Johnson pledged to get 100,000 landlords signed up to his minimum standards scheme yet to date only 13,500 landlords have joined.

“With 40% of private sector renters living in poverty, rents rising and complaints soaring, Boris’ soft touch approach does little to help the majority of London’s renters. Without proper statutory protection, many renters are left at the mercy of landlords.

“Instead of another empty voluntary initiative we need to see real action to ensure decent standards and fair treatment in the private rented sector. Things like longer tenancies and caps on rent increases would make a real difference to Westminster’s renters.

“Whilst most landlords treat their tenants properly these figures suggest that renters have very little protections and too easily face the threat of eviction.”

ENDS

Notes 

• The latest Shelter report, Repossession and Eviction Hotspots, including borough by borough breakdowns is available here.
• The numbers of accredited landlords are available on the GLA’s London Rental Standard web page.
  • The London Poverty Profile 2013 (p.7) found that 39% of private renters now live in poverty.
• The Valuation Office Agency states that between June 2011 and June 2014 private rents in London rose 21%
• Shelter reports a 47 per cent increase in private sector tenant complaints in London in the last five years (to 18,700) (p20)
• Murad Qureshi is a Labour London wide Assembly Member