London Assembly 25 May 2005 Fifty-First Mayor’s Report to the Assembly Author: The Mayor This is my fifty-first report to the Assembly, fulfilling my duty under Section 45 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999. It covers the period from 3 March – 11 May 2005. General Election I thought it would be helpful to share with Assembly Members a brief report based on work from DMAG giving information concerning turnout, majorities, party votes and second places. The Assembly may find this of interest (Appendix B). Also attached is a table listing the change in vote across London broken down by constituency for the three main parties (Appendix A). A preliminary analysis of the General Election results in London shows the change in the percentage of votes for the parties in London from the last General Election was as follows: Party Change in % of vote in London % of Vote in London Labour -8.4 38.9 Liberal Democrat +4.4 21.9 Conservative +1.4 31.9 Respect +1.4 1.4 Green +1.0 2.7 UKIP +0.5 1.5 BNP +0.2 0.7 NF +0.1 0.1 Veritas +0.1 0.1 Others -0.6 0.8 These results are distorted by the fact that Respect and the BNP stood in very few seats, and the Greens did not stand in all seats – in those that they contested the BNP averaged 4.8%, Respect 14.8% and the Greens 4.0%. Outside of the east London stronghold, in the three other London seats where candidates stood, Respect gained 1.7%, 6.4% and 4.5%. Nationally the Conservative vote rose by 0.6% and in London by 1.4%. Labour lost as many votes to Respect in London as to the Conservatives, three times as many as to the Liberal Democrats as to the Conservatives and almost as many to the Greens as the Conservatives. The BNP was not a significant factor in London outside Barking and Dagenham. The Liberal Democrats won twice as many votes as Respect and the Greens combined, three times as many as Respect by itself, and four times as many as the Greens by themselves. 1 Transport Congestion Charge On 1 April I confirmed that there would be a number of major changes to the congestion charging scheme following public consultation, which will come into effect on 4 July 2005. Congestion charging has been in place for just over two years. It has achieved its key objective of reducing congestion and has also provided an additional stream of revenue to help the funding of other transport measures within my Transport Strategy. The major changes to the current scheme will be to: • Increase the congestion charge from £5 to £8; • Increase the congestion charge for vehicles on the fleet scheme from £5.50 to £7; • Introduce three charge-free days for a monthly payment and 40 charge-free days for an annual payment of the congestion charge. The charge increase will maintain the benefits currently witnessed in the zone and build upon its success, cutting congestion even further, and raising more revenue to be invested in London's transport system. 90% of people entering the zone do so by public transport. This will build on what has already been achieved in terms of extended bus provision, and in due course by providing additional underground capacity. At the same time a number of measures will reduce the hassle of paying the charge. In response to requests from business and fleet operators to make the charge easier to pay and to reduce the impact of the charge on business, the daily charge for vehicles on the fleet scheme will be set at £7. In addition, large discounts on monthly and annual payments will make the charge easier to pay for regular users and should lead to fewer penalty charge notices being incurred by drivers who forget to pay the charge. On 6 May public consultation began on the detailed proposals to extend the congestion charge westward. In Spring 2004 public consultation took place on a revision to my Transport Strategy to allow a Western Extension of the Central London Congestion Charging Scheme. That consultation concentrated on the principle of a Western Extension. TfL has now made a detailed proposal for the scheme reflecting many of the comments previously received. Changes made to the proposals from the original consultation include a modified boundary for the charging zone, the residents discount sector extended to include some particular areas that would otherwise experience parking and severance problems and a proposal that the charging hours will also end at 6pm instead of 6.30pm. This 10 week public consultation will end on 15 July. 2 Penalty Fares I have agreed that Penalty Fares on London Buses, London Underground and the Docklands Light Railway will increase from £10 to £20, and on Tramlink from £15 to £20 when paid within 21 days, or from £25 to £30 if paid after this period. These changes will come into effect from 12 June 2005. The changes are intended to provide a more robust deterrent to fare avoidance and will also take account the increasing number of services operated by open boarding articulated buses. This will also restore the real value of the Underground Penalty fare that has been eroded by inflation. The amended charge will also preserve a co-ordinated approach to the control of fare evasion with a consistent message that travelling without a ticket on any TfL service involves the risk of a £20 Penalty Fare. This will be in line with National Rail once the changes approved by Government Ministers have been implemented. Road Safety Poll The results of a MORI survey I commissioned were released on 21 March showing that 60% of people supported the introduction of a 20mph speed limit on residential streets with just 27% opposed. 85% of people supported the introduction of a 20mph limit outside schools with just 10% opposed. The current maximum speed limit on many London streets is 30mph. In terms of measures to reduce traffic speeds, speed cameras and speed bumps had roughly equal support with less support for chicanes. This survey shows that most Londoners want to see 20mph speed limits on the capital’s residential streets making them safer for pedestrians, particularly children and young people walking to and from school. The support for 20 mph limits in the vicinity of schools is overwhelming. The link between speed and deaths on our roads is clear: London boroughs that have adopted 20mph zones have seen a reduction in deaths and seriously injured casualties by 57%, with serious injuries to children falling by 61% in these areas. Tour of Britain Cycle Race The 2005 Tour of Britain professional cycle race was officially launched at London's City Hall on 12 April. The world-class sporting event, featuring many of the stars of the Tour de France and the 2004 Athens Olympics, will climax in central London on Sunday 4 September having first completed five stages around the country. Large crowds are expected to watch the final stage of the race as the cyclists compete against a backdrop of iconic central London landmarks. The course will be 45 laps around a one-mile circuit starting and finishing in Whitehall, following a route through Trafalgar Square, Northumberland Avenue, Victoria Embankment and Parliament Square. In the year that London bids to host the 2012 Olympic Games, we are delighted to once again welcome the final stage of the Tour of Britain. This important national event will further showcase London's ability to promote a world-class sporting fixture to a global audience. The Tour of Britain will be a fantastic spectacle and a fun day out. It will help to highlight the health benefits and enjoyment that cycling can offer Londoners and will illustrate the first rate facilities and experiences that London has for all tourists and visitors. 3 The race comes as Londoners are showing an increasing enthusiasm for cycling in the capital for recreation and transport. London-wide cycling increased 23% to May last year compared with 2003/4 and it has increased 62% on Transport for London's road network since 2001. This is the fastest growth in cycling of anywhere in the UK. To help achieve this, TfL's cycling budget is rising from £12 million in 2004 to £19.2 million in 2005/06. With an estimated 100,000 people expected to watch the last stage of the tour, it is also a major boost for tourism in the capital. The thousands of spectators can also enjoy a host of cultural events also taking place. The activities will give an added economic boost to the capital. According to Visit London, in 2004 65% of spectators came from outside London and went on to visit other attractions spending around £30 per head. Free Afternoon Newspaper On 7 April I welcomed the agreement reached by the Office of Fair Trading (OfT) and Associated Newspapers to lift the exclusive rights of the Metro newspaper contract in the afternoon and evening. This is great news for Londoners. I have always been confident that the OfT would share our view that the exclusive distribution of the Metro is uncompetitive and I am pleased that the investigation has reached a conclusion. Of course, the exclusivity for morning distribution has not been lifted and we will reserve our right to press for this to be removed. For the past six years Associated Newspapers have distributed the Metro in the morning. It is a matter of public record that other newspaper businesses would be willing to distribute a free afternoon paper and might even pay more than we are getting for the Metro deal.