LOOK IN ON LONDON
Reports carried by the BBC and The Financial Times have highlighted the financial crisis faced by Transport for London as a result of declining passenger numbers and the loss of its central government revenue grant. In an internal e-mail, reportedly sent by Patrick Doig, finance director for TfL’s surface transport division, staff are told that a loss of up to £968million is ‘clearly not a sustainable position to be in as an organisation’. TfL’s operational deficit has swollen from £171million in 2012/13 to £458million in 2016/17 and is expected to reach £785million this year.
David Begg, a former TfL board member who also is a past government transport adviser, says the organisation is in a crisis and that he has genuine concerns for its ability to deliver against this financial background. Gareth Bacon, a Conservative member of the London Assembly and chair of its budget and performance committee, has expressed concerns about what he says is Labour mayor Sadiq Khan’s ‘cavalier financial stewardship’ of TfL. On 21 February, the Evening Standard reported that TfL’s finances were such that all but essential repairs to the capital’s roads for which it is…
