--- election_year: 2012 party_id: libdem party_name: Liberal Democrats party_leader: Brian Paddick political_spectrum: centre victory: false government_outcome: opposition sections: - economy - taxation - health - education - housing - immigration - foreign-policy - environment - transport - law-and-order - welfare - energy - devolution - science-and-technology - local-government --- # Liberal Democrats London Mayoral Manifesto 2012 Mayoral and London Assembly Elections ## **SERIOUS SOLUTIONS. FOR LONDON.** A Liberal Democrat Mayor and Assembly ambitious for London’s future LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ## Liberal London: FAIRER. GREENER. SAFER. Dear Londoner, When times are tough it is natural to turn inwards, to play it safe and set your sights low. That is understandable but it sells London short. The Liberal Democrats have a positive and ambitious vision for a better London. Radical and realistic, a Liberal London would be fairer and greener, made possible because it is safer. From cutting crime to keeping fares low, tackling youth unemployment and building thousands of new homes, the Liberal Democrats have serious solutions to the capital’s biggest challenges. With the Mayor of London now also the city’s Police and Crime Commissioner, this is a different kind of election. We have the experience to keep Londoners safe and restore trust in the Metropolitan Police. Our vision has the safety of Londoners as its bedrock. It is also a different kind of election for Liberal Democrats. For the first time we approach this election as a party of national government. Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government are doing the right thing for the whole country, cleaning up Labour’s mess and cutting taxes for working people. Londoners can look at us in a new light, knowing this is the manifesto of a serious, credible party capable of governing London. Under both Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, London has fallen short of its potential. After 12 long years they leave behind a London with expensive and overcrowded public transport; a London where rents are too high and ambition too low; and a London scarred by the worst riots in a generation. It is time for a change. It is time for something better. It is time for a Liberal London. Yours sincerely, Brian Paddick and Caroline Pidgeon Liberal Democrat candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor of London # FRESH IDEAS. FOR LONDON. ## Our Commitments to You. ## POLICE AND PUBLIC. STANDING TOGETHER. London had the worst riots for a generation last summer. A vote for Brian Paddick and the Liberal Democrats in May will send a powerful message that Londoners have had enough of high levels of crime and poor community relations with the police in our capital city. It’s time for the police and public to stand side-by-side together against the criminals. As Mayor Brian Paddick will also take up the office of Police and Crime Commissioner for London, instead of delegating it to a deputy, and will personally lead a new era of tough and responsive policing in London. ### New York style crime reductions – for your neighbourhood * **More bobbies on the beat.** We will guarantee 33,500 police in the Met by protecting local neighbourhood teams from the current Mayor’s cuts and putting more police on the streets in communities most at risk from gun and knife crime * **Visible patrols.** We will increase the visibility of uniformed officers at busy travel interchanges and in town centres, especially late at night * **Safer travel.** We will allow night buses to stop on request closer to passengers’ final destinations, rather than at fixed bus stops * **Local policing.** We will give each neighbourhood its own plan for policing and how officers are deployed, based on ward surveys and involving local people and local businesses in decisions over policing priorities in their areas * **Paddick Patrols.** We will help Londoners who want to reclaim their streets by working with community groups such as residents and tenants associations patrolling in groups to prevent crime and be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the police ## Tough on criminals, support for victims * **Tough payback sentences.** Those convicted of criminal offences will be made to work in the community to repay their debt to society while gaining new skills – reoffending can be halved through payback # FRESH IDEAS. FOR LONDON. ### Sentencing - **Survivors of rape to be better supported and taken seriously.** Guaranteed funding for rape crisis centres and retraining of police to raise awareness - last year 3,312 rapes were recorded but London courts convicted just 219 people ## High standards for police - **Better stop and search.** We will stop police targeting innocent people and accurately target the power on criminals. Stopping people just because they are from minority ethnic communities destroys trust and wastes time that could be better spent targeting real criminals - **A new independent public commissioner for standards.** We will create a policing ombudsman for London to enforce tough and clear standards of conduct over behaviours that have brought the police into disrepute, such as abusing stop and search, racist attitudes and corrupt relations with the media ## MONEY IN YOUR POCKET. Life is getting harder for many Londoners as Labour’s legacy of economic mismanagement hits home. A Liberal Democrat-led Greater London Authority will take action to help – on fares, on taxes, on wages and on the cost of living in London. ### Fairer fares for Londoners - **Low fares.** Overall we will keep fares as low as possible and will not increase fares by more than the rate of inflation - **Six Ways to Save.** Our package of fare reductions will concentrate help where it is most needed: - **Early Bird discounts** for Tube, TfL rail and DLR travellers using the network before 7.30am - **A One Hour Bus Ticket** allowing people to hop-on and hop-off buses as you can on the Tube and rail – paying only one single fare - **A Part-timers’ Travelcard** using Oyster technology, so people regularly travelling three days a week can get the sort of discounts provided by the weekly travelcards - **One Day Outer London Travelcard** - **We will review all the fare zones** across London so passengers are not disadvantaged - **We will end the scandal of Oyster overcharging,** and where it does occur, make it far quicker and easier to get a refund - **We will protect the 24 hour Freedom Pass,** so valued by London’s retired and disabled citizens ## Cutting Council Tax bills and always paying the Living Wage - **We will freeze the GLA’s share of Council Tax** to keep Council Tax affordable - **Living Wage.** No one working in, or for the GLA through contractors will be paid below the London Living Wage. All London’s boroughs and the Corporation of London must do the same and lead by example - **We will name-and-shame large employers** in London who don’t pay the London Living Wage or use exploitative zero-hour contracts ## JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL. Alongside the extreme wealth of the City live many people enduring some of the worst poverty and social deprivation in Britain. Go eight stops east on the Jubilee Line from Westminster and your life expectancy falls one year for every station. Underlying this dismal record is the fact that London suffers the second highest unemployment rate of any region in Britain. ### A new deal for young Londoners * **A London Youth Contract.** We will ensure all jobless young Londoners who apply after leaving school and aged up to 25 are productively engaged, in work or in learning linked to a genuine job opportunity, working with employers to create an Apprenticeship Alliance and ensure graduates get six months real work experience leading to a job * **Adult Skills.** We will bring the £653m spent in London each year on adult skills training under the control of the Mayor and appoint a new powerful Business Board to put employers and business in the lead * **Five-Star Fund.** We will set up a fund worth at least £10m, supported by a voluntary £1 a night luxury hotel bedroom levy, to co-fund youth opportunities in needy areas * **Youth Hubs.** We will work with banks on funding the development across London of ‘Youth Hubs’, open seven days a week and in the evenings where young people, as well as socialising, can receive advice and support * **Access to education.** We will make sure no young Londoner is deterred from entering a suitable further or higher education course because of financial concern, by channelling educational bursaries through enhanced careers advice in schools ### Supporting enterprise and the jobs of the future * **We will establish a London Small Business Fund.** We will work with socially responsible banks, so all viable small enterprises get the finance they need with mentoring support and advice too * **We will establish a London Green Investment Bank** to co-fund the industries of the future and transform London into a centre of digital technology ## INVESTING TO GET LONDON MOVING. London’s transport is at breaking point. Record numbers cram into the underground, trains and buses – a daily nightmare for millions who commute – while roads remain too dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians. ### Investing for a better service * **Block closures.** We will end the misery of months of weekend closures, speeding up work to increase capacity through ‘block closures’ and bring forward schemes for ultra light rail, tram and additional buses in badly served areas and on overcrowded routes * **We will create a London Transport Bond** to raise additional investment funds, open to ordinary Londoners, so they get a good return on their savings as well * **We will cut Transport for London costs** to the best international standards and increase revenue from its assets like vacant land through a dedicated London Property Agency ### London’s Your Oyster * **We will give holders of Oystercards a real say** in how their network is run just as big companies have to answer to their shareholders, by using existing contact details to consult through email and phone- in votes * **A London Commuter Service** to take over the suburban rail routes used by millions of people a week, starting with some SouthEastern and East Anglia routes ## Clean, safe, healthy * **Big Switch.** We will make a ‘Big Switch’ so all London’s buses and taxis, and most commercial vans run on electricity by 2020, to cut running costs and clear up polluted air, with a clean air zone for central London such as cities like Berlin enjoy * **We will pedestrianise parts of central London** – from Trafalgar Square to Oxford Street – and run a ‘summer streets’ scheme, like New York * **Cycling and safety.** We will learn from the Dutch about how to achieve a step-change in cycling and safety in London ## A DECENT AFFORDABLE HOME. FOR EVERY LONDONER. We need more homes; homes that Londoners can afford. That means a dramatic increase in the number of new houses and flats of all types. We plan to build 360,000 homes over a decade and will create a new ‘living rent’ standard, so that Londoners’ rent costs should aspire to be no more than one-third of their take home pay. ## Land for Londoners * **Council home building.** We will work with all London boroughs to restart council home-building and aim for half of all new homes built in London being in the Social and Intermediate sectors by supporting boroughs with the best legal advice to negotiate tough agreements with developers * **A London Housing Company** to act as a vehicle to assemble public land and match it with private investment, and offer smaller housing associations the ability to raise loan capital through a London Housing Bond * **Empty homes.** We will create an extra 40,000 homes in the spaces above shops and bring 50,000 currently empty homes back into use ## Helping private renters * **We will crack down on rogue landlords** through the effective registration of private landlords, using local authorities’ extensive powers for licensing all privately rented housing in specific areas * **We will promote a Mayor’s kitemark** for responsible renting and have good landlords and their agents register on a new online website portal – Rent London – so young people and others looking for safe and decent accommodation get guaranteed help * **A Good Landlord Charter.** We will develop with tenants’ representatives a charter for councils and housing associations to adhere to if they wish to access funding from the Mayor ## A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE. Our plans for the environment will make London a better place to live – reducing the cost of living, especially fuel bills, creating more jobs and improving Londoners’ health. Our plans for sport and culture will preserve London as a vibrant and attractive place in which to live, work and visit, full of creativity, diversity and the spirit of innovation that makes London great. ## Clean environment * **A zero carbon London by 2030.** We will promote energy efficiency to reduce fuel bills and develop new technologies so London can become zero-carbon by 2030 * **A long-term zero waste goal** with tough targets for reducing the amount of waste produced and for reuse and recycling * **An extra 2m trees before 2025,** concentrating on areas with the least tree cover to help mitigate the impact of the so-called ‘urban heat island’ effect, whereby London is consistently hotter than its surrounding area ## Health and leisure * **A GLA Parks Agency** will be created to work with the Royal Parks and others to protect and enhance London’s ‘green lungs’ like Hampstead Heath and Crystal Palace * **We will develop a new annual London Games,** working with amateur sports associations, so disabled and able-bodied sportsmen and women compete at borough and London levels, continuing the Olympic spirit, just as the London Youth Games and London Marathon inspire mass participation * **Arts in the Park.** We will promote attendance at borough and fringe theatres and develop an Arts in the Park programme across London * **Supporting festivals.** We will promote and celebrate all the diverse communities that make London a great city, supporting festivals and events * **We will promote the health of Londoners,** ensure equal access for all and reduce health inequalities – diseases like TB and HIV are on the rise again after falling for years – and press government for more powers over health in London # FRESH IDEAS. FOR LONDON. ## Our Commitments to You. ### A Mayor and Assembly ambitious for London's future ### Full Manifesto ## Contents Page: 9 The Liberal Democrat approach Page: 11 Police and public standing together Page: 15 Money in your pocket Page: 17 Jobs and opportunity for all Page: 22 Investing to get London Moving Page: 28 A decent affordable home for every Londoner Page: 32 Sustainable living in London Page: 36 London at play ## A Mayor and Assembly ambitious for London’s future ## THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT APPROACH. Now, more than ever, we need a Mayor and Assembly who are in touch with ordinary Londoners. This means a Mayor and Assembly on your side... * if you are young and need a job - real opportunities to get training * if you are fearful about crime - police patrolling your streets, cutting crime and out working with young people, not sat behind their desks * if you need to get to work or out and about at the weekend - less crowded and more reliable trains, tubes and buses, with fares you can afford * if your rent is too high - more and better housing and a crackdown on rogue landlords * if you are worried about your future well-being in a huge city like London – healthy air to breathe, less pollution and a sustainable future for you and your family * if your finances are tight – a guarantee to freeze the GLA’s share of the Council Tax ## Running London Liberal Democrats believe in a better way to run government – not the “we know best” approach of other parties but genuinely including citizens in decisions that affect their lives and opening up government to independent scrutiny. We will: * consult Londoners over fares, just as there is a legal requirement to consult about **Council Tax** * set up an independent Office of Budget and Performance, modelled on American cities like New York, to provide tough value-for-money audits of expenditure * ensure every decision taken by the GLA and its family of agencies explicitly addresses the likely impacts on jobs, health, fairness and environment * appoint a cross-party diverse cabinet, including independent experts, to run City Hall in the long-term interests of Londoners as a whole * hold a monthly press conference, involving the Mayor and the Assembly, so London’s media gets access to the politicians who make the decisions that affect Londoners’ lives * set up a consultative council of a cross-section of London’s communities representative of London’s diverse ethnicity and cultures, including businesses and trade unions, young and old, disabled and able-bodied alike The Greater London Authority is changing, from a purely strategic guiding body to one that has new powers to deliver services and take the initiative to regenerate London. New powers are coming for the Assembly too, making it more important than ever to have a strong group of Liberal Democrat Assembly Members standing up for Londoners. This manifesto does not just propose immediate policy commitments; it also sets out a vision for London over the next two decades, to strengthen our resilience to global changes like climate change and promises a better quality of life for all Londoners. ## Costings and commitments Our key commitments are all costed and will be implemented within the four year term of office. Most of our other proposals make better use of existing resources and better ways of working between agencies. Those that require some pump priming will be funded from the savings we plan to achieve. Increasingly big infrastructure improvements will not come from taxpayers but will be funded from the increased wealth that regeneration within London will create, keeping a greater share locally. Already London creates 21% of the nation’s wealth, measured by Gross Value Added, even though we represent only 12% of the total UK population. London contributes between £14bn and £19bn more to the national exchequer from the taxes we pay compared to public spending in the capital. So our commitment is not to increase Londoners’ taxes or fares beyond any rise in their cost of living or their ability to pay. We will fund better services from more effective administration across all public agencies in London and from the wealth created by a more dynamic, Liberal Democrat-led London economy. ## Our record In the last four years Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly have stood up for London and Londoners. - Liberal Democrats have kept up pressure on the Mayor to reward commuters and help people faced with rising transport fares. It was the Liberal Democrats who persuaded the Mayor to introduce half price tickets for job seekers on London’s bus and tram network and who got the Mayor to consider introducing Early Bird fares - Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly have repeatedly advanced ways to divert money from waste to spend on front line services, have never voted to cut the police’s budget and have stopped the Met’s flawed estates programme that would have shut police stations - Liberal Democrats were the first Party group to propose a cut in the GLA’s share of Council Tax - Liberal Democrats have campaigned to increase the number, size and range of affordable housing in the capital, championed new ways of financing new homes and held the Mayor to his commitments - Liberal Democrats have led the way in championing improvements to accessible transport. The recent decision by TfL to allow Guide Dogs to use escalators on the Tube was a direct result of Liberal Democrat pressure - Liberal Democrats at City Hall, and in government, have secured funding for Crossrail and other crucial services like Thameslink from being cancelled, meaning less crowded journeys to work for millions of Londoners in the future - Liberal Democrats have championed methods now partly in use to tackle the Tube upgrade programme faster and smarter - Liberal Democrats have repeatedly called for better skills training and developing apprenticeships, championing innovative schemes. Liberal Democrats in City Hall promoted the use of apprenticeship schemes on the London 2012 Olympics site, as well as pushing employers to use local workers - Liberal Democrats have set the agenda on air quality, leading the fight for a central clean air zone and developing costed plans for a big switch to electric vehicles - Liberal Democrats secured free Olympic and Paralympic tickets for carers to accompany all severely disabled people – the Ticketcare scheme. Originally only disabled people in a wheelchair would have been eligible - Liberal Democrats secured a lasting legacy for cycling, brokering an agreement for a fantastic alternative track at Hog's Hill to replace the Eastway Cycle Circuit and ensuring that plans for the velopark after the Games reflect the needs of local cyclists ## POLICE AND PUBLIC. ## STANDING TOGETHER. Crime and the fear of crime in London remain far too high, despite all the promises of the past two mayors. London has the highest rate of recorded crime in England and the lives of too many young Londoners are blighted by the levels of knife and gun crime on our streets. It’s time for the police and public to stand side-by-side together against the criminals. Brian Paddick will take up the office of Police and Crime Commissioner for London, instead of delegating it to a deputy, and will personally lead a new era in tough and responsive policing in London. ### Key facts * Victim satisfaction in London is among the lowest in the country. One in four victims are not satisfied with the service they receive, down on last year and well below target * Knife crime offences are rising – up by 1,224 (9.3 per cent) in the 12 months to January 2012 compared with the same period to January 2011 * Police officer strength at 31 January 2012 was the lowest since January 2008, at 31,128 officers * Around half a million stop and searches are carried out in London each year. Taking into account the relative ethnic populations, Black people are 4.4 times more likely to be stopped than White people and Asian people twice as likely ### Protecting numbers, more visible policing Everyone agrees that around 33,000 is the right number of police officers for London given current demands and available resources. The real question is how effectively they are deployed, and whether Londoners get the policing service they want. We will guarantee 33,500 police officers keeping Londoners and our streets safe. A police service led by Brian Paddick will: * protect neighbourhood policing by guaranteeing staffing levels in the ward-based Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT), withdrawing the cuts in sergeants that the current Mayor has made and protecting numbers from being run-down after the 2012 Games * put more police on the streets in the neighbourhoods most at risk from gun and knife crime, with flexible shift patterns and additional hours, to build up effective local programmes based on good intelligence * help deter and prevent crime by ensuring a dedicated outreach service of detached youth workers made up from councils’ youth services and the voluntary sector, who work to compliment local police Safer Neighbourhood Teams, and which would be set up first in the areas with the highest incidents of knife and gun crime * create strong Town Centre Police Teams where SNT boundaries cross busy town centres * increase the visibility of uniformed officers at key travel interchanges throughout London, especially late at night, and * working with the British Transport Police on night time Tube, rail, tram and bus patrols. * improve accessibility to the police with a minimum of three police stations provided in every borough, with at least one open 24/7, alongside SNT bases * cut out waste, remove senior officer perks and save money through greater civilisation of back office roles, not front line services * in line with local priorities * hold an annual public meeting, at which all those responsible for crime prevention and reduction will be held to account, including London's Police and Crime Commissioner * provide more online and targeted information for people unable to attend SNT or community group meetings so they can have their say about local policing priorities – this includes local businesses who should be able to report crime by email ## Working with Londoners The two previous mayors have failed to involve people in the future of London’s police service. Yet we know that working with local communities helps to improve intelligence gathering and catches more criminals. ### A police service led by Brian Paddick will: * give each neighbourhood its own plan for policing and the deployment of officers, based on ward surveys and involving local people and local businesses in decisions * listen to and take seriously those affected by homophobic, racist hate crimes and crimes against people with a disability, ensuring an effective response * devolve more resources to local borough commanders and allow them to set priorities ## Payback sentencing Simply putting people into prison doesn't work in the long term. Most convicted criminals go on to offend again after time in prison. There is an alternative: studies show that reoffending rates for those on community-based schemes are around 37%, compared to 61% of those serving custodial sentences. Brian Paddick will work with the boroughs, the Courts, the Youth Service and the Probation Service to bring in a tough London Community Payback scheme. Those convicted of criminal offences will be made to work in the community to repay their debt to society while gaining new skills, on projects decided by local people. ### We will: * make sure that rather than sit in a cosy cell in prison for hours on end with their food and heating provided, criminals will be forced to clean-up graffiti, repair broken fences, clear fly-tipped rubbish and improve public spaces in London * make sure that if they receive benefits, those benefits will be dependent on successfully completing their payback sentence. If they fail to do the work, they will be fined out of their benefit payments * ensure local people decide what needs to be done to improve their local areas and the Probation Service will make sure those criminals on payback sentences do the work * allow local people to get their local areas improved instead of having to pay to keep someone in prison where the inmates can laze around and learn from others how to be more effective criminals ## Paddick Patrols Many people in London want to do something to help combat crime but feel powerless to act on their own. The will is there, as we saw in the reaction to the riots where residents and shopkeepers joined together to protect their property and then came together to clean up afterwards. Similarly, the residents of Bonnington Square by Vauxhall reacted to a spate of recent muggings by organising patrols. Brian Paddick will help Londoners who want to reclaim their streets. ### We will: * encourage existing community groups such as residents’ and tenants’ associations to reclaim their streets by patrolling in groups to prevent crime and be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the police. In groups of six or more, local people will wear fluorescent jackets and armed only with torches and a direct line to the local police, they will patrol their local area, deterring criminals * register the groups with the police, who will know who they are, where they are and what times they will be on patrol, so they can respond quickly if needed. The police will give advice on what they should do in different situations and emphasise that they should not intervene, but call the police, if there is a ‘crime in progress’ * support the local patrols should they encounter problems. For example, being challenged by local criminals, the police will provide a community support officer, police officer or police dog handler to accompany the residents (depending on the level of threat) or, in extreme cases, replace the community patrols with Territorial Support Group patrols (riot squad officers who are on permanent standby, who have the capacity to do exactly this sort of patrol) ## Driving out racism The police must focus on criminals and avoid targeting innocent people. Brian Paddick will take away the power to stop and search from any officers who misuse it. They will face re-training and disciplinary action. Stopping and searching people just because they are black or from minority ethnic communities destroys trust and wastes time that could be better spent targeting real criminals. ### We will: * ensure police publish data on the proportion of ‘stop and searches’ carried out that result in something unlawful being found and an arrest, caution or charge being made as a result * ensure police publish data on the proportion of ‘stop and searches’ that involved criminals who are known to be active (named individuals who the local police have recorded as ‘target criminals’ because they have recent convictions or cautions or those who have been named by local people as being actively involved in crime) * ensure police officers record on the ‘stop slip’ how the description of someone who has been stopped and searched because ## FRESH IDEAS. FOR LONDON. - they are suspected of having just committed an offence, exactly matches the perpetrator e.g. type of trainers, colour of trousers, marks or scars, tattoos, ear or nose rings - make publically available the proportion of stop and searches carried out on people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities for each borough together with an explanation if the proportion is different from the proportion of BME residents in the borough population ## Violence against women Last year the Metropolitan Police recorded 3,312 rapes but London courts convicted just 219 rapists. Liberal Democrats believe the criminal justice process leaves too many victims feeling ignored or let down. Survivors must be better supported and taken seriously, not left blaming themselves. The Mayor must work with voluntary sector groups to make this happen. ### We will: - lead a public campaign aimed at raising awareness and dispelling common myths about rape based firmly on the principle that anything less than positive and explicit consent, freely given by someone capable of making that decision, must be dealt with as rape, building on the recent central government ‘no means no’ campaign - ensure survivor support groups are represented on the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime advisory board - guarantee funding for the existing level of Rape Crisis Centre provision and work closely with boroughs to ensure joined-up provision across London. Better funded rape support organisations will also help support survivors of rape at all stages of the criminal justice system and help to provide guidance, advice and support - oversee comprehensive retraining of the police service to ensure all officers understand their role and the appropriate response to survivors. Many offenders commit rape multiple times before being - caught – providing a safe environment for survivors to report can help stop serial rapists in their tracks - introduce police performance measures based on the level of satisfaction experienced by rape survivors who have had contact with the police. - fully support local groups who want to provide a presence on our streets at night, to build a London-wide movement for communities to reclaim our streets while acknowledging that rape too often takes place in the victims’ own home with someone they know - make sure the police are fully prepared for any rise in human trafficking that results from the Olympics. Women in the sex industry are vulnerable to rape and more likely to be ignored and their reports of crime not taken seriously ## Ensuring safety while travelling Despite much talk, the two previous mayors have failed to protect people using public transport – particularly late at night. The number of robberies on buses between April and September 2011 increased by 19.8% over the same period in 2010. Brian Paddick will make passenger safety a priority. ### We will: - trial a scheme to allow night buses to stop on request closer to passengers’ final destination, rather than at fixed bus stops, to protect passenger safety - require every major station and transport interchange to have its own policing plan, based on consultation with regular travellers, to cut crime and increase confidence, especially late at night - ensure that the British Transport Police, the Met Police and the other emergency services in London are properly equipped to talk to each other, particularly at times when major incidents occur - support Street Pastors and others who want to help patrol areas of London where active night time economies mean people, often young people, are vulnerable - increase the visibility of uniformed officers at key travel interchanges throughout London, especially late at night, and working with the British Transport Police on night time Tube, rail, tram and bus patrols. ## Open and accountable The Metropolitan Police needs to become far more open and transparent. A new independent public commissioner for standards – a policing ombudsman for London – must draw up and enforce tough and clear standards of conduct over behaviours that have brought the police into disrepute, such as abusing stop and search, racist attitudes, corrupt relations with the media and dodgy practices on accepting gifts and hospitality. This will split scrutiny over internal discipline from the vital role of handling complaints from the public that should remain with the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The creation of the new Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime risks reducing scrutiny and accountability, so the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee must have the widest powers to hold the Metropolitan Police and London’s Police and Crime Commissioner to account. ## Improving coordination between emergency services Londoners will get a better and more cost effective protection service if all the emergency services in the capital – police, fire and ambulance – work more closely together under the leadership of the Mayor. Both the riots in the summer of 2011 and the terrorist attack in July 2007 revealed gaps in capability and coordination. But joint working goes beyond operational incidents like these to include co- location on sites, services like vehicle maintenance and back office facilities like emergency control centres – which we will protect from Conservative privatisation attempts. We will lobby Government to bring the London Ambulance Service under the control of the GLA. ## MONEY IN YOUR POCKET. Life is getting harder for many Londoners, as the legacy of Labour’s economic mismanagement hits home. Those in work face the prospect of little real increase in their wages, while unemployment is sharply rising in the capital. Young people in particular are getting a raw deal and missing the opportunities that a growing economy would normally provide. With Liberal Democrats in national government cutting taxes for working people, a Liberal Democrat-led Greater London Authority will do its bit to give Londoners real, practical help in tough times – on fares, on taxes, on wages and on the cost of living in London. ## Key facts - The GLA Council Tax precept increased by 152% between 2001 and 2008 - Public transport fares in London have risen above the rate of inflation under both previous mayors: Boris Johnson put up the single bus Oyster fare by 50% between 2008 and 2012, while Ken Livingstone increased it by 42% in just two years between 2005 to 2007 - Londoners are overcharged by £61m a year paid workers in London - create a One Hour Bus Ticket allowing people to transfer buses as they can on the Tube and rail, paying only one single fare - create a Part-Timers Travelcard using Oyster technology, so people regularly travelling three days a week can get the sort of discounts provided by the weekly travelcards, recognising how people’s working patterns have changed - review all the fare zones across London so passengers are not disadvantaged - recreate a one day Outer London Travelcard - end the scandal of Oyster overcharging, with automatic refunds and easier ways to register a complaint Liberal Democrats are determined to protect the 24 hour Freedom Pass, so valued by retired and disabled Londoners. We will work with boroughs to ensure it remains affordable, and will negotiate with the Train Operating Companies to see if it can be extended earlier in the day. We also intend to protect the other concessionary fare schemes that give special help on transport costs to Londoners in need. ### Holding down the Council Tax and eliminating waste When the GLA started in 2000, the Band D tax was £123 a year. As Boris Johnson leaves office it is more than £306. A Liberal Democrat Mayor will freeze the GLA’s share of Council Tax. We will: - crack down on waste and perks for senior staff in all GLA bodies, like those enjoyed in the police (such as chauffeured cars, free central London accommodation, first class rail and business class flights) - end vanity projects that don’t provide value for money services - create an independent Office of Budget and Performance, modelled on American cities like New York, to provide efficiency audits - from incomplete Oyster journeys - Rents outside the social sector in London increased by 17% in the last year, while London house prices bucked the national trend and rose by 5% ### Fairer fares for Londoners Fares have increased by more than the rate of inflation under both previous mayors. In tough economic times, when wages even for those in work are stagnant, the Liberal Democrats want to keep fares as low as possible. Now the disastrous PPP is over, the cost of the investment programme can be reduced to comparable international rates. We will target help on fares for those most in need and overall we will not increase fares by more than the rate of inflation. Our package of fare reductions – ‘six ways to save’ – will concentrate help where it is most needed. We will: - offer Early Bird discounts for Tube, TfL rail and DLR travellers using the network before 7.30am. These are often among the poorest and value-for-money advice to all GLA agencies - set a new policy that the ratio of low to high salaries in the GLA should not be greater than ten times ### Paying Londoners a fair wage With all-party support, the GLA has taken a leading role in calculating the minimum level of wages it is possible to subsist on in London. Already 150 companies are paying the London Living Wage and they report compensating benefits from increased staff retention and better performance. We will: - make it part of all GLA employment and contracting that all staff and suppliers are paid at least the London Living Wage - demand all boroughs move rapidly to pay their own staff and suppliers the London Living Wage when contracts are re-let - set a clear expectation that all large employers in London pay the London Living Wage for their own staff and suppliers and avoid using zero-hour contracts and other exploitative labour practices – praising where warranted, and naming-and-shaming where necessary ### Bearing down on the cost of living Many of the policies in this manifesto will bring Londoners much needed help with the cost of living in London. Our plans to increase dramatically the number of affordable homes will reduce the relentless upward pressure on rents and house prices. We set a benchmark that no more than a third of the typical Londoner’s income should be spent on housing costs. Our policies on home insulation and energy efficiency will cut the heating and lighting bills of many homes. For Londoners on benefits, we will campaign to persuade central government to acknowledge a ‘London weighting’ in national allowances and total benefit caps. ## JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL. Alongside the extreme wealth of the City live many people enduring some of the worst poverty and social deprivation in Britain. Go eight stops east on the Jubilee Line from Westminster and your life expectancy falls one year for every station. After 12 years and two mayors, such inequality remains a scandal. Underlying this record is the fact that London suffers the second highest unemployment rate of any region in Britain. Young people in particular get a raw deal. And yet London contributes up to £19bn more a year in taxes to the national exchequer than we received in public spending. A Liberal Democrat-led GLA will persuade central government to recognise that the prosperity of the whole UK depends on a dynamic and socially-just London. ### Key facts - Almost 400,000 Londoners – one in 10 – are unemployed and seeking work, the second highest rate in the whole country - 24% of London’s population is economically inactive - London has the highest levels of worklessness among young people. In some wards, up to 38% of people aged between 16 and 24 are seeking employment * Four in 10 children in inner London live in poverty * Only five of the 32 London Boroughs pay at least the London Living Wage ## Developing skills The £653m spent in London each year on adult skills training must be brought under the control of the Mayor. A single pool of funds under a unified London employer-led approach is the best way to ensure Londoners are equipped for work. ### We will: * work with central government to take strategic oversight of investment in skills programmes in London currently provided through the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills * appoint a new powerful Business Board to align skills development with the needs of enterprise, building on the previous enterprise panel and skills and employment board * insist each borough develops a training plan so the differing local needs in its own communities are identified * involve the voluntary sector in replacing the recently cancelled programmes to improve the employability and skills of the most excluded unemployed and economically inactive Londoners, jointly funded by the European Social Fund and London Councils * make sure local libraries get involved in providing such training, helping keep more open * lobby government to make sure that migration targets based only on numbers don’t deprive London of the essential skills its role in the global economy requires ## London Youth Contract Young Londoners are especially hard hit by the current economic difficulties. We will develop a Youth Contract for London, building on national government help for the 55,000 18-24 year olds in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance and the 18,000 16-17 year olds who are not in employment, education or training. This means bringing together employers’ organisations, higher and further education providers, and central, regional and local government agencies, as well as the young people themselves, to tackle this crisis. ### We will: * offer a London Youth Contract, so all jobless young Londoners who want to are productively engaged in work or in learning linked to a genuine job opportunity. This will require London’s large employers to commit to hiring young Londoners, with help from government * expand apprenticeships for young people – forming an Apprenticeship Alliance with major employers and colleges and working with major infrastructure projects like Crossrail, the Thames Tideway Tunnel and Tube upgrade work, as well as legacy opportunities on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park * set up a Five-Star Fund - worth at least £10m – supported by a voluntary £1 a night luxury hotel bedroom levy on the 50,000+ three to five star rooms in London, like ones already operating in many cities and tourist destinations around the world, to co-fund youth opportunities in needy areas * increase graduate opportunities, modelled on successful schemes like Teach First – we will seek co-funding and employer partnerships to guarantee every London graduate six months real work experience in business or with a new project created through our Five-Star Fund * make sure no young Londoner is deterred from entering a suitable further or higher education course because of financial concern, by channelling educational bursaries through enhanced careers advice in schools * with support from the Five-Star Fund, insist every borough maintains a good network of youth clubs, with young people themselves involved in running them, including ‘hubs’ where young people can get trusted advice ## Children and young people: a good start in life The foundations of a good start in life begin well before job prospects. Four in 10 children grow up in households with incomes below the government’s official poverty line, the highest rate of any region in England – that’s 650,000 children. Nearly 400,000 children live in overcrowded households, while high childcare costs act as a disincentive to parents seeking work. Young people are often vulnerable to crime, at risk from drug and alcohol problems, and their mental health and well-being comes under stress. Many of the policies in this manifesto will positively impact children and young people, and Liberal Democrats will involve children and young people in decision-making that affects them. We will produce an annual report on progress on improving the life chances of young Londoners. We will work with banks on funding the development across London of ‘Youth Hubs’, open seven days a week and in the evenings where young people as well as socialising can receive advice and support. We would encourage and work with boroughs to make sure their youth facilities also had access to funding to enable their facilities to open later and more often too. We would want to see coffee shops, of which London now has more than New York, encouraged to stay open later in the evenings, again giving young people the chance to socialise and get away from street corners and pubs. ## Creating jobs for Londoners Under both previous mayors, London has suffered one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country despite all the opportunities that come from being the nation’s capital and the financial services centre of the world. With the integration of the old London Development Agency into City Hall, the Greater London Authority must do a dramatically better job at promoting job creation in London. Part of this is ensuring that every possible penny of public spending in London is spent securing jobs for Londoners. The track record of the Olympic Development Authority, for example, was not good at getting local unemployed people into work on the Olympic Park sites with only one in 10 of the people employed on site being previously unemployed. We will: * ensure the Olympic Park Legacy Company – the new Mayoral Development Corporation – sets ambitious targets to create jobs and help Londoners secure these roles * require that every contract awarded through the GLA should include a commitment on the winning bidders to provide at least 10% of new jobs associated with the contract for Londoners on training and apprenticeship schemes * rapidly expand the proposed green industrial park in East London - promoting new technologies such as building environmentally sustainable waste processing plants in the Thames Gateway, or exciting projects such as installing hydro power turbines at Teddington Weir on the River Thames - seize the huge opportunities presented by new mayoral powers to create local enterprise zones and additional mayoral development corporations, using business rates incentives to encourage new businesses - seek to diversify the London economy from its over-reliance on financial services, including promoting the creative industries and protect manufacturing - work to expand the Fresh Carts scheme to 500 locations across London – bringing high quality, locally grown produce at street market prices and creating work for young jobless people wanting to create a business ## Diversity and equality London is the most diverse and most unequal city in the United Kingdom. One measure of our dynamic economy is that more than one in three people in the London workforce were born outside the UK. But discrimination means that people with high qualifications from black and minority ethnic communities are paid 21% less than their white colleagues. Women in London are less likely to be in work and more likely to be in poverty than the rest of the UK, while women in work earn less than men on average, even more so than in rest of the country. Many of the policies in this manifesto will reduce inequality and help combat discrimination – such as creating more opportunities for young people, promoting the London Living Wage, building more affordable housing, encouraging mixed communities through planning policy and supporting a healthy environment. Without such direct intervention, both inequality and discrimination will tend to get worse. Under the Liberal Democrats, City Hall will monitor the fairness impact of all policies and produce an annual report on progress towards reducing inequality. We will continue to promote inclusion and equality in all aspects of London’s life. We will support events and activities that embrace, celebrate and welcome all the communities that make London the great diverse city that we are. Events like St Patrick’s Day, Pride and the Notting Hill Carnival bring many millions of visitors to London, as well as being enjoyed by Londoners, and should continue to be offered help to run and thrive. Smaller scale community events can have an equal economic benefit in individual localities and are welcomed and should be encouraged. ### Looking forward – environment and health London will only go on being prosperous and capable of sustaining the livelihoods of millions if it adapts rapidly to the big environmental challenges facing the global economy – such as rising raw material and energy costs and population pressure for available food – as well as from increasing overseas competition both from cheaper labour and from new technology. Ernst & Young estimate that at least £40bn of extra investment could be attracted to London, creating some 225,000 new jobs by 2025, if the opportunities to move to a low carbon economy are seized. We will: - lead the digital revolution in London, challenging companies like BT to invest in the first wave of the government’s national superfast broadband strategy and rolling out universal Wi-Fi access * promote the proposed green industrial park in Dagenham Dock, as an exemplar for regeneration across London * challenge the financial services sector to invest in environmental technologies, using our zero waste commitment to drive development of jobs in energy-from-waste schemes like anaerobic digestion – the interest shown in schemes from London Waste and Recycling Board shows the potential * develop plans to co-create a Green Investment Bank for London ## Supporting small business London is home to the best financial services sector in the world, despite the costly mistakes that have hit us all hard. To demonstrate its return to responsible business practices, we will challenge London’s banks and investment houses to create a London Small Business Fund so that no viable enterprise is prevented from expanding through lack of finance. We will also challenge all London’s big business to offer mentoring support and advice to SMEs and, crucially, to open up their contracting to London’s firms by publicising opportunities through the established CompeteFor platform. London’s entrepreneurs need support and encouragement to grow their businesses and get people into work. The GLA must promote cost effective business support programmes, champion the needs of business, ensure business costs are kept low and promote London’s cultural, sporting and entertainment offer. The Federation of Small Business says 13% of GLA group expenditure was spent with SMEs, compared to a government target of 25% by value. That isn’t good enough. We will: * involve existing successful entrepreneurs in advising on ways to improve the government’s replacement Business Link advisory service * challenge big companies to promote entrepreneurism, through contracting and mentoring, learning from work done in the inner city areas of the United States to help combat disadvantage and discrimination that led to the riots and disturbances that took place on our streets in August 2011 * demand that large companies give priority to local purchasing, to keep buying power in the London economy, using the CompeteFor database and procurement portal created for the Olympics * ensure all parts of the GLA family including Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police and the Homes and Community Agency in London put work into the database so that small firms can bid for contracts as public sector projects are put out to tender * insist central government extends to London’s businesses all the benefits from the National Insurance holidays and grant funds made available to other regions of the UK ## Promoting social enterprises We see great potential in helping to develop a vibrant and dynamic third sector in the economy, neglected by both previous mayors. This includes mutuals, cooperatives, social enterprises and charities. Central government policy is supportive in this direction but it requires a Mayor and London Assembly committed to this new way of working if the opportunities are to be realised and barriers overcome. ### Big business responsibility For too long big business has had a free ride, demanding freedom from regulation, insisting on public investment in transport and paying its shareholders ever increasing returns, but not playing a responsible role as a partner in London’s development. Both previous mayors have failed to set the sort of expectation on big business that is routine in American cities. We will: * set up the business board to spearhead involvement of large employers in job creation and skills development * insist on local procurement wherever possible * name and shame large employers not paying the London Living Wage ### Helping high streets To support our high streets and combat the seemingly ever-increasing move to out of town shopping, measures in this manifesto will enhance the appearance and viability of our town centres, improve transport access and ensure a safe environment to shop. We will: * support smaller retailers by insisting boroughs have schemes to provide Business Rate relief and preferential rental values for small shops in at-risk high streets * ensure local communities are involved in how the GLA’s high street regeneration funds are allocated, rather than simply leaving councils to make the decisions ## Promoting London The UK has the largest creative sector in Europe and, relative to GDP, one of the largest in the world. London’s share of creative industries jobs is, at 32%, more than twice its share of the UK economy as a whole. It provides nearly 400,000 direct jobs and the same again in support services. We will: * ensure London remains the place that the world comes to enjoy the best theatre and arts productions, as well as doing business with some of the most creative architects and computer companies in the world * with London & Partners, host an official ‘one stop shop’ through which people from around the world can book accommodation, order their Oyster Cards, book theatre tickets and access maps and official guides. * actively market and promote the cultural activities organised by and for the wide range of London’s diverse communities ## INVESTING TO GET LONDON MOVING. London’s transport is at breaking point. Record numbers cram into the underground, trains and buses – a daily nightmare for millions who commute – while both previous mayors have a record of hiking up the fares. London’s roads are becoming increasingly congested, especially at weekends. Pollution levels remain dangerously high and noise from the increasing numbers of aircraft in our skies regularly disturbs a million of Londoners. ### Key Facts * A record 6m users of 8,500 buses on 700 routes – 2.3bn journeys, up 60% since 2000 * The Underground is busier than at any time # FRESH IDEAS. FOR LONDON. in its 149 year history – carrying 1.1bn passengers this year * Air pollution from traffic causes huge health problems, leading to over 4,000 premature deaths per year, making London a dirty, noisy city * Excess speed on London’s roads injures or kills some 28,000 people a year * 16 cyclists died on London’s roads in 2011, compared to 10 the year before, with over 4,000 cycle casualties in 2010 and more than 5,000 pedestrian casualties ## Improving London’s transport network To relieve congestion, Transport for London must urgently speed up the work to increase capacity for passengers on the existing network and bring forward schemes to relieve pressure through ultra light rail, tram and additional buses. We will: * bring forward upgrade work on the tube and prevent further delays by using block closure techniques as other countries have successfully done * develop plans for additional tram, tube and rail services in areas currently underserved by public transport, including: - extending the tram to Sutton, Streatham and Crystal Palace - reviving the proposals for the Cross River Tram linking Brixton and Peckham with Waterloo and Euston - developing the feasibility of the next stage of the extended East London Line with Tube interchange at Brixton and Thameslink interchange at Loughborough Junction - adding additional carriages to crowded routes on the London Overground - extending the Bakerloo line south to Camberwell and beyond - examining feasibility of the Brent Cross Light Rail scheme - improving key transport interchanges such as at Ealing Broadway with Crossrail * lobby central government to ensure the impact on London of the proposed new high speed rail (HS2) is minimised, for example in Hillingdon, Ealing and in Camden, particularly around Euston and on London Overground services where HS2 will connect with HS1 * advance plans for Crossrail 2 (Chelsea to Hackney), to help with the increased passenger numbers from high speed lines coming into London, and start work on options for further lines. * re-examine the cost-benefit of alternatives to the proposed £1bn Northern Line Extension from Kennington to Battersea Power Station, to open up regeneration without massively overcrowding the existing line * work to secure the funding for the upgrades of the Bakerloo, Central and Piccadilly lines * provide more express bus routes from the suburbs at peak commuter times to relieve pressure on overcrowded lines, and introduce more orbital bus routes to reduce the need to travel into central London, piloting the Fast Bus proposal from Brent to Ealing via Park Royal * help to reduce overcrowding by encouraging a spread in travel patterns, for example through our Early Bird fares and working with large employers to stagger work start times * support local travel to work plans, such as those pioneered in Liberal Democrat-run Sutton, where the Smarter Travel Sutton plan achieved a 16% increases in bus ridership, 75% increase in cycling and 6% decrease in driving * lobby for a fair share of money from the government's programme to make stations more accessible and improve the accessibility of the whole transport network - as part of upgrade work. TfL wasted £39m at Shepherd's Bush station sinking lift shafts and then filled them in as they ran out of money. This is unacceptable. - consider additional river crossings in East London only where public transport, cyclists and pedestrians have priority over vehicle traffic and where existing communities on both sides of the river can benefit from additional jobs, house building and access to leisure facilities – not those that simply encourage growth in vehicle traffic through already congested areas ## Funding long-term investment At a time of public sector constraints on what taxpayers can afford in direct subsidy, it is essential that Transport for London reduces its costs, maximises its existing assets and raises more investment resources from private sources supported by the current and potential increased revenue from greater ridership. ### We will: - issue a London Transport Bond to raise additional funds to speed up investment, open not just to City financers but ordinary Londoners who will get a real return on their savings as well as seeing a real improvement in services – like the municipal bonds of old and as other countries do today - rigorously benchmark costs of the current investment programme, comparing individual lines with benchmarks from the best international transport operators. The McNulty report in 2011 found maintenance and renewal costs are around 30% higher in the UK than international comparators - place Transport for London’s assets like stations and vacant land into a dedicated London Property Agency, tasked with bringing forward developments above stations, improving the return on retail leases and partnering with developers to release the value from underused assets to put back into the transport system - pressure foreign embassies and diplomatic missions to pay the nearly £60m they owe in unpaid congestion charges ## Putting Londoners in charge There is a democratic deficit at the heart of our transport network, with passengers’ voices not being heard loudly enough while both previous mayors have appointed their friends and cronies to the TfL board which has singularly failed to hold transport bosses to account. Both mayors have also failed to persuade central government to devolve full control of London’s transport system including rail to Londoners. ### We will: - give holders of Oystercards a real say in how their network is run, in the same way that big companies have to answer to their shareholders, by using existing contact details to consult through email and phone-in votes, so transport bosses are made far more accountable to the fare paying Londoner - ensure that ordinary Londoners – at least one pedestrian, cyclist, representative from disability groups and ordinary driver – are specifically represented on TfL’s project teams when plans are being drawn up for road junction remodelling and other major infrastructure changes - create a genuinely integrated London Commuter Service by persuading central government to devolve the awarding of franchises on the suburban rail routes used by millions of people a week. Specifically we want TfL to take over rail routes that operate on suburban routes in London, and with their franchises shortly due for renewal, such as some routes on SouthEastern and West Anglia. This could save £100m over 20 years ## Looking forward – environment and health No one would dispute that an effective public transport system is essential for the good functioning of London’s economy. Less well recognised are the health and environmental benefits that better public transport brings. This manifesto will deliver a big switch to pollution-free electric vehicles, a healthy increase in walking and cycling, and higher clean air standards. As London’s population grows, life in our city will only be sustainable and well-being maintained if we change the way we move about. Renewable and low-carbon forms of energy, including to power the Underground, are an essential part of that. As restricted road space becomes even more congested, the economic case for efficient allocation will need to be reviewed. Already it makes no sense for a commercial delivery van to cause traffic back-ups at peak times, causing other road users to be late for work. ### Reducing pollution and investing in new technology. London’s buses, taxis and vans still mostly run on diesel. This should no longer be the case. Air pollution from traffic causes huge health problems and this must change. Under our Big Switch plan, all of London’s buses and taxis, and most commercial vans, will run on electricity by 2020. This is financed primarily through fuel cost savings, so taxi drivers will make big savings too. ## We will: - modify the existing Source London charging network to focus on supporting buses, vans and taxis in central London where the pollution is worst - begin at once to purchase new electric buses as well as trialling the retrofitting of electric power trains into existing buses - ensure that by 2016 all buses in central London, the most polluted area, are powered by clean electricity, with all 8,500 of London’s buses converted by 2020 - run a competition for a new iconic London electric black taxi and begin production by 2015 of at least one electric taxi design - set up a clean air zone for central London modelled on current schemes in European cities like Berlin, using national registration details to enforce higher engine standards, with income from fines ringfenced to fund a scrappage scheme - explore with manufacturers the setting up of a subsidy scheme to reduce the upfront capital costs for drivers needing to convert to electric vehicles ### Walking, safely By far the largest numbers of journeys in London are made on foot. By developing better pedestrian schemes in our town centres and encouraging the growth of ‘green walkways’, we can make our town centres attractive places to shop, work and live. Decluttering London’s streets, by removing excess signs and street furniture will also help in improving the local environment. ## We will: - implement a bold plan to allow pedestrianisation of parts of central London – from Trafalgar Square to Oxford Street - develop a ‘summer streets’ scheme, similar to New York, temporarily pedestrianising streets so encouraging people to explore and travel to their destinations in central ## London on foot * provide better signage to help people use pavements and footpaths – highlighting the 108 tube journeys that are actually quicker on foot * encourage walking, through incentives similar to store card loyalty schemes, using Oyster or smart phone technology * extend 20mph speed limits to dangerous busy streets controlled by TfL where Londoners live, work and play – so reducing accidents and saving millions of pounds from the health service budget alone * set ambitious targets to encourage walking to school * increase support for schemes like London’s Greenways, making them more attractive to use for recreational activities * There are 347 crossings in London that are unsafe for visually impaired people. Disability access standards must be met for every pedestrian crossing ## Using cars in London When introduced in 2003, the Congestion Charge succeeded in limiting increases in traffic levels in central London, improving road safety and reducing the costs to business of delays. However, particularly in peak periods, the level of vehicle traffic is rising with the consequent increase of delays and costs. Both previous mayors watered down the purpose of the original scheme and neither mayor has used the existing powers available to the GLA to tackle excessive work-place parking. ### We will: * instruct Transport for London to re-instate its regular monitoring reports into the impact of the Congestion Charge which were abandoned in 2008 * introduce variable charges throughout the day to discourage road use in the most congested hours – with all revenue ring-fenced for public transport improvements * annually increase the charge sufficient to keep pace with the rise in fares on public transport, so ensuring fairness between private commuters and those using public transport * introduce a Mayor’s Parking Charter to set a consistent standard across London and to stop greedy boroughs using parking fines as a source of revenue rather than sensible traffic management * consult about introducing a work-place parking levy in central London, learning lessons from schemes in cities like Bristol and Nottingham, to deter large employers from providing perks for non-essential staff and with rebates for employers who develop effective travel-to-work plans for all employees. Essential workers will be exempt including education, NHS, Ambulance, Police and Fire crews * maintain the door-to-door services provided by Dial-a-Ride, encouraging greater use and ensuring the system meets its users’ expectations * consult on whether road pricing for commercial vehicles at peak times should be considered, as set out in the current Mayor’s Transport Strategy ## Encouraging cycling Cycling has more than doubled over the last 10 years and is now an integral part of London’s transport network. If more people are to feel safe and want to cycle, simply painting more blue lines on a few major roads is not the answer – a further step-change in the scale of cycling in London will ultimately require more effective segregation for safety, as the Dutch have found. ### We will: * install many more ‘trixi’ mirrors at road junctions to help drivers of large vehicles see cyclists * immediately review all major junctions and roundabouts to improve safety, including giving cyclists priority at junctions * where practicable, separate and protect cyclists from other road users, with other * traffic calming measures where not practicable (such as narrow or crowded streets) * enforce penalties against those few cyclists who ignore red lights, cycle on pavements and use mobile phones. With greater investment made in cycling, it is only fair that all cyclists show consideration for pedestrians and other road users * give much more support for people looking to start cycling including cycle safety training, with every person attending a training course entitled through sponsorship to discounts on safety gear * promote an ambitious programme of cycle safety across London ## Making the Cycle Hire scheme work for all of London Part of encouraging cycling is making the cycle hire scheme work much better. Satisfaction of those who register and actual use a bike is dropping, while many find the casual users’ scheme too complicated. The Liberal Democrats first advocated a bike hire scheme in 2001 and want to make sure it works for the widest range of Londoners. Generating more income will come through greater usage by many more people. We will: * promote the scheme to groups who are not using it regularly, particularly women and younger adults who live in London * make the scheme easier to use for casual users with a ‘one swipe’ facility * expand to south London and further into north London * require the contractor to improve overall service levels including the distribution of bikes or face tough penalties * increase the annual membership fee to non-Londoners * introduce special ‘limited edition’ bikes to celebrate key events such as the Diamond Jubilee, Pride and the 2012 Games and to put some fun back into the scheme ## Better use of waterways We want to enhance and improve London’s river services to become an integral part of the transport network. We will: * allow the holders of Travelcards to use river services without financial penalty on a trial basis * integrate river services onto the transport map of London with better, bigger signage, clearer details on the tube map and full integration into the online Journey Planner * ensure TfL takes river passenger services seriously, with a strategic plan and a dynamic team, coordinating the piers and river service operators * promote the river as a means for servicing the construction of new developments along the river, taking the pressure off our overstretched roads, and minimising their environmental impact * develop and expand the use of London’s canals, carrying more freight traffic, increased leisure use, and developing better walking and cycling routes and accessibility * put a river services champion on the TfL Board ## Using air space wisely We believe better use can be made of existing airport capacity in the south east and will continue to oppose the construction of international airports on new sites and expansion of existing London airports at Heathrow and City. We are also concerned at growing noise in the skies of London from aviation including helicopters. We will: - oppose any runway alternation plans at Heathrow and any increase in the number of night flights over London - support airlines to review their slots at London’s airports, switching slots from short haul routes to Europe to servicing emerging long haul markets, to ensure they are being used in the smartest way, minimising empty flights - use larger aircraft where appropriate to increase capacity to reduce the need for flights and cut down on congestion at existing airports - work with central government to develop more alternative and sustainable forms of travel, through more investment in the rail network, including high speed rail - persuade central government of the need for much stronger control over the routes that commercial helicopters use and on the time restrictions, including a congestion charge on helicopters using scarce air traffic routes, especially for advertising ## A DECCENT AFFORDABLE HOME. FOR EVERY LONDONER. The shortage of housing, and of affordable homes in particular, isn’t just a crisis for individual Londoners; it has become a huge constraint on London’s economic growth. Rents outside the regulated social sector are racing ahead, as growing demand outstrips available supply, and house prices in London continue to rise against the UK trend. Ultimately the real answer is a dramatic increase in the number of homes of all types in London. Both previous mayors argue about targets and percentages while failing to achieve the step-change in numbers needed. A Liberal Democrat Mayor and Assembly will lead a massive home building revolution to meet Londoners’ housing needs, and through construction have an immediate impact on jobs and unemployment. Our plan is for 360,000 new homes of all types over a decade, including a big increase in a well-regulated private renting sector. Experts estimate that half the homes will need to be in the social and intermediate sectors and we will work to achieve this goal. Fundamentally, new housing must be affordable. We set a bold objective to create a new ‘living rent’ standard, with the goal that Londoners should pay no more than one-third of their take-home pay on rent costs. ### Key facts - London is growing, with up to 1m more people expected to be living here by 2030 - 350,000 families are on housing waiting lists – affecting more than 800,000 people - Over 230,000 households are overcrowded – that means nearly 400,000 children live in overcrowded homes - Nearly 80,000 homes are vacant - Nearly one in four Londoner households live in privately rented homes - London house prices average over £400,000, 15 times the median income and easily the highest in the country. They have risen faster than the national average over the past five years and despite the recession, they are still 40% higher than in 2005 - Social rents are 17% higher in London than nationally and private rents are 36% higher - Tenants in the social rented sector pay 37% of their income on rent, while Shelter says private rented households pay more than half of their take-home pay on housing costs in 22 of London’s 33 boroughs - London’s housing accounts for 36% of total carbon emissions ### Land for Londoners The land is available within London to meet our growing needs, much of it in public ownership and coming under the direct charge of the Mayor. With the merging of Homes and Communities Agency and London Development Agency functions under City Hall, the GLA will be the largest public sector landowner in the capital. A total area equating 3,745ha (or 2.5% of the entire area of Greater London) could be classified as Brownfield. Of this, over 20 per cent is owned by the public sector. The current mayor scrapped his predecessor’s target that 50% of new homes should be affordable but the previous mayor’s fixed target was often not met anyway. We believe developers need to know what is expected of them, so we will set a benchmark guideline that half of housing should be affordable. Boroughs will get the best possible legal and commercial advice from the GLA to negotiate tough agreements, to secure the maximum number possible. In an era of public sector resource constraint, it is clear that London will need to renew and grow its social infrastructure – housing, transport, schools. Funds will come from development gain by using the extra powers being devolved from central government over tax and incentive mechanisms such as business rates exemptions and so-called tax incremental financing. In the US and Europe there is a much bigger private rented sector, and within that many institutions (such as pension funds) invest in private housing for rent, from which they make stable long-term returns. There is huge potential in new developments in London to attract private investment. We will: - use the land capacity in London for over 360,000 new homes to be built over the next 10 years through a massive home-building programme, with a new London Housing Company to match public land with private investment and bring new funding from private investment - channel available public subsidy to restart council house-building and support housing associations’ own programmes - use the mayor’s planning powers more effectively to encourage home building, including setting a benchmark guideline that half of housing in new developments should be affordable for the majority of Londoners - support boroughs in having tough negotiations on planning gain with developers, by creating a central unit as part of GLA Economics, so that the technical advice available to councils is as good as the best that developers can routinely employ - use the new GLA powers to create transparent and accountable Mayoral Development Corporations where needed to kick start a home building revolution ### New ways of funding The large increase in home building relies on creating new channels to get much more private sector investment. The Mayor of London’s Housing Taskforce reported in March 2011 that an estimated £35bn was required to build at least 33,400 new homes each year and to raise London’s social housing to the Decent Homes standard. Recent examples show the potential, ranging from the £1bn bid for the Olympic Village from the Wellcome Trust to a £76m wholly privately funded scheme for nearly 500 affordable homes in Barking. We will: - create a London Housing Company as a - vehicle to assemble public land and match it with private investment, so bringing forward major new developments - offer smaller housing associations the ability to raise loan capital through a London Housing Bond, supported by City Hall, to access funds in the same way larger associations are increasingly able to - challenge banks and mortgage companies to ensure adequate funds are available for those can afford to purchase, and continue to offer help for first time-buyers and through shared equity schemes – to buy the average London home with a 75% mortgage currently needs an income of £87,500 and over £100,000 for a deposit - work with boroughs to use the greater financial muscle they now have through their housing revenue accounts, under the new devolved self-financing regime, to restart their own building programmes - support plans by local community groups working with developers to create Community Land Trusts – non-profit, community-based organisations that develop housing or other assets at permanently affordable levels for long-term community benefit - encourage greater diversity of schemes including mutuals, cooperatives and self-build ## Making better use of existing housing Part of the solution to the housing crisis is making better use of existing assets, including empty homes. We will: - create an extra 40,000 homes in the spaces above London shops - bring empty homes in London back into use as affordable housing, insisting boroughs establish clear strategies for tackling empty properties and so bring 50,000 empty and - underused properties back into use as housing - with retailers and transport companies, identify unused urban space above and around supermarkets and stations for affordable housing - make it easier for people living in social housing to move within London if they need to be nearer to employment opportunities or have caring responsibilities, by ensuring better housing mobility options for social housing tenants - end discretionary tax discounts for empty homes and second homes, to encourage more productive use of existing housing assets ## Looking forward – environment and health Improving housing is one of the best ways to reduce fuel poverty, increase environmental standards and address climate change. It is now widely recognised that poor housing has a big impact on health, while overcrowding affects educational achievement. As part of our plans for the long term sustainability of London as a liveable city, we will: - be ambitious to make large developments achieve at least Code for Sustainable Homes Level 5 and require good liveable space standards - set a target for CO2 reduction in the existing housing stock and speed up action to roll out loft and cavity wall insulation - expand retrofitting schemes to see existing stock brought up to modern day standards, using the Government’s Green Deal initiative to drive take-up, including using new powers to force private residential landlords to undertake energy efficiency improvements - insist that a fair share of the national energy company obligation is ringfenced for London which is currently losing out - through planning policy seek to maintain # FRESH IDEAS. FOR LONDON. mixed communities, increase the number of family-sized homes and foster a better live/work/play combination in developments – including harnessing the power of digital technologies and superfast broadband – so reducing the need to travel long distances ## Protecting tenants and leaseholders – and helping landlords The private rented sector is already playing a growing role in meeting London’s housing needs. We want to support and protect those renting properties in London and guard against the activities of unscrupulous landlords. ### We will: - promote the effective registration of private landlords, using local authorities’ extensive powers under the Housing Act 2004 to help improve the management of the private rented sector, including the selective licensing of all privately rented housing in specific areas as Newham Council has successfully piloted - set up a central unit to prosecute rogue landlords, and mandating councils to take much greater enforcement action using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System under the Housing Act 2004, so forcing landlords to make improvements to their properties to meet acceptable minimum standards - promote a Mayor’s kitemark for responsible renting in the private sector, encouraging good landlords and especially their agents to register on a new online website portal – Rent London – particularly useful for students and young people looking for safe and decent accommodation - ensure that all landlords abide by the terms of the Tenants’ Deposit Protection Scheme, so that landlords cannot unfairly delay or keep tenants’ deposits when they move out - until national laws are changed, encourage landlords to offer longer minimum tenancies, especially those landlords being used to discharge councils’ homeless rehousing duties - work with leaseholders of flats to provide protection from unscrupulous freeholders who impose high maintenance or insurance charges, also including local authority leaseholders and freeholders hit by unexpectedly high costs for major works - promote more general leasehold reform to protect people in flats, both purpose-built and conversions, from unscrupulous freeholders ## Using new mayoral powers With the Homes and Communities Agency folded into the GLA and funding now flowing through City Hall to boroughs and social landlords, the Mayor is in a powerful position to get tough with councils who will not play their part in tackling London’s housing crisis. This covers increasing supply and driving up standards across the whole social rented sector in London. ### We will: - develop with tenants’ representatives a Good Landlord Charter for councils and housing associations to adhere to, if they wish to access funding from the Mayor - set targets for tackling overcrowding, bringing empty homes into use, offering mobility, enforcing environmental health - standards, involving tenants and other good management issues that will increase the available stock of housing - protect tenants from social landlords who abuse the new flexible powers over tenancies and rent levels - work with landlords and the voluntary sector to ensure rough sleepers don’t just have a temporary bed for the night but a pathway into secure housing, new skills and a permanent job, so ending the scourge of homelessness in our capital city ### Planning for a better future The Mayor has strong powers both to set the strategic development framework for London and to make individual planning decisions, by commenting on boroughs’ decisions, directing refusal and taking over large developments for direct decision by City Hall. ### We will: - revise the London Plan, building a cross-party cross-sector consensus on meeting London’s growth needs within acceptable environmental and social constraints and then intervening strongly where developments are blocked that are in the common good - open up the decision-making process at City Hall, so meetings are held in public and community groups get the same access as developers in influencing decisions - hold public consultations over so-called ‘opportunity areas’ and ‘intensification areas’, ending the stitch-up between the GLA and some councils - ensure development is concentrated on brownfield land, to protect London’s open spaces and the green belt around the capital - support greater density and tall buildings in appropriate clusters only - protect the historic lines of sight and viewing corridors across the capital - support small retailers and promote job creation in outer London, to ensure a balanced economy and less need to commute long distances ## SUSTAINABLE LIVING IN LONDON. It is estimated that the way we live in London today uses resources as though there were three planets, not simply the one we have. Liberal Democrats support the vision of ‘one planet living’ – developed by London-based Bioregional with the environmental charity WWF. London’s economy will thrive in a future where “we meet more of our needs from local, renewable and waste resources and enable Londoners to enjoy a high quality of life within their fair share of the earth's resources”. Using fewer resources means our plans will also reduce the cost of living, especially fuel bills, create more jobs, improve Londoners’ health, clean up the city, reduce the risk of extreme weather from climate change and help make London more resilient to future energy and food shortages. ### Key facts - London creates 20m tonnes of waste a year from all sources, but householders only recycle 32% of their waste, compared with 42% in the rest of the country - Air pollution is the second biggest killer in London after heart attacks, contributing to more than 20,000 deaths a year - More than a quarter of London’s water (nearly 600m litres a day) is lost in leakage between treatment plant and tap – equivalent consumption to an extra person living in every home - One in five households suffers from fuel poverty – 760,000 households spend more than 10% of their income after tax and housing costs on energy - Poor insulation means London’s homes account for more than a third of all CO2 emissions - 1.25m people live at risk from tidal or fluvial flood risk, with many more at risk of surface water flooding Our Big Switch proposals will achieve a rapid increase in the number of electric vehicles on our streets, focused on high mileage buses, taxis and light goods vehicles. This will cut tail pipe pollution and help meet CO2 reduction targets. ## Clean healthy air Air pollution in the capital is the worst in the UK for dangerous airborne particles (PM10 and PM2.5). We have the highest annual nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels of any city in Europe. This pollution has a serious health impact: it causes thousands of premature deaths and makes respiratory conditions such as asthma worse. The Campaign for Clean Air in London has championed what needs to be done. But both previous mayors have failed to rise to the challenge and take the action needed to meet legal and health limits. We will: - revise the Air Quality Strategy to set out exactly what needs to be done and by whom to achieve clean healthy air for Londoners – where this requires action by government we will lobby hard for change - focus on cleaning up transport, by designating a new clean air zone in central London so the oldest, most polluting, diesel vehicles are deterred from driving where the pollution problem is worst; speeding up the conversion of buses and taxies to cleaner engines, and promote alternatives like cycling and walking - work for long term changes to the built environment and to new developments to reduce emissions from construction and from boilers - raise public awareness about the health crisis, as it especially affects young people and older citizens, making sure that all boroughs - and within that all schools - have air quality improvement plans and effective monitoring ## Zero carbon London When operational, the London Array of wind turbines off the Kent coast will provide enough electricity to power a quarter of London’s homes. Developments on this scale show what is possible given ambition. Liberal Democrats set a bold target for London to become zero carbon by 2030. This can be achieved through changes to primary fuel sources, cutting wasted energy and substantially reducing consumption. We will: - promote decentralised energy systems, combined heat and power schemes and on-site renewables such as solar panels, benefiting from the national feed-in tariffs and renewable heat incentives - increase the amount of energy generated by anaerobic digestion through waste-to-energy projects and promote local hydroelectric schemes on the River Thames - expand retrofitting schemes to see existing stock brought up to modern day standards, using the Government’s Green Deal initiative to drive take-up, - insist that a fair share of the national energy company obligation is ringfenced for London which is currently losing out - use the purchasing power of Transport for London to commission additional renewable generating capacity so the Underground can become sustainably powered - provide regulatory certainty and so attract private finance to invest in waste infrastructure # FRESH IDEAS. FOR LONDON. ## Zero waste London The very idea of rubbish being thrown away should be a thing of the past. A great city like London cannot afford to waste its waste. We must set a long term goal of a ‘closed loop’ approach, whereby use of materials is reduced, reused where possible and recycled for further use. Working with the boroughs and the London Waste and Recycling Board, we will: * set tough targets for reducing the amount of waste produced by individuals and businesses in the capital and for reuse and recycling by boroughs and disposal authorities * introduce food waste collections in every borough as a step towards a comprehensive system of separate wet and dry collections * support moves by manufacturers to minimise packaging and simplifying the mix of plastics entering the waste stream * improve recycling rates from flats - currently only around 10% - and challenge branded goods companies to fund ‘on the go’ recycling collections so people can recycle their waste when out-and-about * introduce a plastic bag levy, as Wales and soon Northern Ireland have done, by agreement if possible, by securing legislation if not * promote a London-wide online swap-shop, modelled on the Freecycle scheme, so Londoners can more easily offer their unwanted goods for reuse, not waste ## Green lungs, good design The recent move to bring the Royal Parks in London under the Mayor’s influence is a good step towards recreating the green lungs which previous generations of London government have fostered. We will: * set up a GLA Parks Agency to work with the Royal Parks, the Corporation of London and the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority to enhance London’s ‘green lungs’ – protecting and improving green spaces such as Hampstead Heath and Crystal Palace and increasing accountability to parks users * insist on the highest standard of green design in planning and development across the capital ensuring that London’s beauty is enhanced, promoted and preserved * bring forward the RE:LEAF goal of an extra 2m trees before 2025, concentrating on areas with the least tree cover and greatest threat from heat island effects * protect school playing fields * urgently update the Mayor’s strategy on bio-diversity, which has not be revised since public consultation ended in 2002 ## One planet living Living more sustainably requires all Londoners to find ways to reduce our environmental footprints and use scarce resources more efficiently. With visionary leadership, this can become a boost to the London economy, creating new jobs and saving money. We will: * pressure Thames Water and its regulator Ofwat to speed up the replacement of historic water mains, to reduce further the extent of water leakage * bring forward the target date for roll-out of water metering, with a fair tariff scheme to protect vulnerable customers in particular need and adding water saving to the Green Deal scheme * lobby government to make the GLA a statutory consultee by all the economic regulators such as Ofwat, Ofgem and Ofcom, with a duty to have regard to the GLA’s views, so that environmental sustainability is added to the factors they include when setting price caps * order a final independent review of the Thames Tunnel so that all Londoners can be absolutely certain that the tunnel is the only way to address the problem of the quality of the water in the Thames * promote more food growing in and around London to reduce ‘food miles’ and increase London’s resilience. * support the move to Fair Trade across London * work to expand the Fresh Carts scheme to 500 locations across London – bringing high quality, locally grown produce at street market prices and creating work for young jobless people wanting to create a business ## Promoting health One of the Mayor’s little known duties is to promote the health of Londoners and to produce a statutory strategy to reduce health inequalities. Liberal Democrats want to see health promotion taken more seriously than either of the two previous mayors have shown, with action to reduce the scandalous health inequality across London. TB and HIV are just two diseases that after many years of falling rates are back on the rise. Greater awareness, improved access to facilities and treatment incentives are needed. These are clear examples of where joint working and promotion could make a real difference. The new London Health Improvement Board provides one vehicle to achieve more, working with boroughs and using its 3% top-sliced funding for pan-London activity. The creation of borough-level Health and Wellbeing Boards under the Health and Social Care Act provides another new opportunity to improve Londoners’ health, and the GLA must take a lead to ensure a pan-London approach to strategic needs. Looking forward, we will continue to press for the GLA to have additional powers to promote health in London, monitor performance in our NHS hospitals and involve Londoners in the decision-making process as London’s hospital and medical centres are reconfigured to ensure a 21st century National Health Service. ## Better working between agencies Sadly victims of knife crime are too often admitted in to London’s hospitals. Across London 15 hospitals are collecting information about the precise locations and times of violent incidents and sharing that information anonymously with the Metropolitan Police, so allowing them to use that intelligence to tackle knife crime. This is one example where agencies must work better together. We will: * use both the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the London Health Improvement Board to persuade the eight hospitals not currently providing the information – including some A&E departments in the areas with the highest incidences of knife crime – to cooperate with the police * mandate Transport for London to promote health in all it does, from cutting the appalling 28,000 injuries caused to people on London’s roads each year to encouraging more walking * build more effective and closer working with the London Ambulance Service – including sharing of premises between all the three major emergency services to find efficiency savings and provide a better service to Londoners. ## LONDON AT PLAY. London is one of the great cultural capitals of the world. Our theatres, museums, galleries and sporting venues play a vital role in city life and help make London a vibrant and attractive place in which to live, work, visit and play. These assets support the creativity, diversity and spirit of innovation that typifies London. They also underpin many of the creative industries which thrive in London – fashion and design, communications and publishing, software and games. Together they provide employment for an estimated 800,000 people. ## Improving access Despite this record, the fact is that our great sporting and cultural assets need to be more open to all Londoners. Liberal Democrats want to improve the choice and accessibility of recreational facilities for all residents and visitors. We will: * maintain an active events programme, led by the GLA in coordination with partners, celebrating the diverse culture and vibrant communities of London * work with boroughs and others to highlight the economic and social benefits that cultural activities bring to local communities * promote access for all Londoners, not just those living near the great central London facilities, working especially with outer London boroughs, so young people are not deterred by price or from false elitism * encourage greater attendance at borough and fringe theatres, not just the established central venues, and develop an Arts in the Park programme, showcasing opportunities and removing petty bureaucratic barriers § make sure the last year of the Cultural Olympiad is a success, leaving a legacy effectively showcasing all London has to offer § continue to support the Museum of London and work with them to secure the future of the historical ‘blue light’ collections – including keeping open the Fire Service Museum until a permanent home is developed ## Securing the Olympic legacy Those involved in preparing and staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games have done a remarkable job in delivering the plans against an exacting timetable. London has shown the world how to prepare for the Games. However the ultimate test of their success is not an expensive six week sporting celebration but the lasting legacy in jobs, skills, homes and community facilities. The record of getting unemployed Londoners to work on constructing the Olympic venues was disappointing. So we will ensure that the London Legacy Development Corporation – the first new mayoral development corporation – sets and then achieves exacting targets for creating local jobs and training, building affordable homes and integrating the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park # FRESH IDEAS. FOR LONDON. into its wider East End community. We fully support plans to ensure residents of neighbouring boroughs gain effective and affordable access to the major sporting venues, so ensuring full community use. To build on the legacy of enhanced enthusiasm for sport, we will work with London’s amateur sports associations to develop the concept of an annual London Games, with disabled and non- disabled sportsmen and women competing in borough and then London-wide contests. The London Youth Games Foundation has shown what can be done – and we want to see that continue and grow – while the London Marathon demonstrates how Londoners’ enthusiasm can be harnessed on a grand scale. ## MORE INFORMATION. For more information about these polices and for copies of the London Liberal Democrats Manifesto “Fresh Ideas for London” please go to www.BrianPaddick.com. Printed, published and promoted by Ashley Lumsden on behalf of Brian Paddick and the Liberal Democrats, all at Unit 6 Hermes House, 59 Josephine Avenue, London, SW2 2JZ.