|
|
Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Abolish Government Office For London To Save £64 million - Hughes
February 26, 2004 5:14 PM
Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate Simon Hughes MP has today called for the Government Office for London to be scrapped in a bid to save taxpayers £64million over the next four years.
Speaking today outside the Government Office for London building, Simon said that now the Greater London Authority is up and running, the work undertaken by the GoL should be handed over to City Hall. He pointed out that in 2003/04:-
- £16.6million was spent on running costs of the GoL - equivalent to £66million in the next four years.
- 310 FTE staff were employed by the Government quango.
- Many of the functions undertaken by the GoL are duplicated by the Met Police, City Hall and Local Authorities meaning more unnecessary bureaucracy.
Simon Hughes said:- "Millions was spent getting City Hall and regional democracy up and running only for central Government to still control £2.6billion that is spent on London and Londoners. Ministers must relax their grip on the GLA and allow elected politicians to get on with the job of directing and investing the money in the way that are best for our capital."
"Too many functions of the Government Office for London are being done better by City Hall and Local Authorities. It is the bureaucratic quagmire of the Government Office for London that must be scrapped to get real value for money for London's taxpayers."
"The Government Office for London worked well before the reintroduction of democratic London Government. Now that we have City Hall, the GoL has become a redundant relic of a bygone era. It is time for the GoL to be scrapped, the services it implements brought under the control of City Hall and the money saved to be ploughed back into front line services."
ENDS
Notes to editor
Programme expenditure is as follows:
Programme expenditure £ million
1999-2000 2,202
2000-01 1,605
2001-02 2,094
2002-03 2,530
2003-04 2,689
Government Office for London (GOL) running cost expenditure is as follows:
£ million
1999-2000 16.0
2000-01 13.2
2001-02 13.2
2002-03 14.1
2003-04 16.6
Approximate full time equivalent posts from April 2000 are as follows:
Number
April 2000 370
April 2001 240
April 2002 260
April 2003 288
The forecast for 2003-04 is 310.
Programmes managed by Government Office for London (GOL) in 2003-04:
Community Chest
Community Empowerment Fund
Community Learning Chest
Public Order and Community Cohesion
Disabled Facilities Grant
Estate Action
Greater London Authority General Grant
Greater London Authority Preparation Costs
Housing Action Trusts
Housing Investment Programme (HIP)
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
Neighbourhood Renewal-Skills and Knowledge
New Deal for Communities
Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders
Neighbourhood Wardens
Street Wardens
Street Crime Wardens
European Regional Development Fund (Objective 2)
Greater London Authority Transport Grant
Sustainable Development Publicity Budget
Community Champions
Community Champions Pathfinders
Connexions Grant Funding
Connexions (Drugs Education)
Positive Action for Young People
Transforming Youth Work (Development Funding)
Special Educational Needs/Disability Act
Vocational and Work Related Learning
Learning Partnership Networking
London Development Agency Grants
New and Renewable Sources of Energy
European Structural Fund (ESF) Objective 2
European Structural Fund (ESF) Objective 3
Anti Social Behaviour Fund
Basic Command Unit Fund
Building Safer Communities Fund
Communication Funding
Gun Crime
Home Office Directors' Allocation Fund
Neighbourhood Renewal Capacity Building Fund
Drugs Team Strategic Grant
Recovered Assets Fund
Time Limited Development Fund
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas
Vehicle Crime
Violence Against Women
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats