20 June 2019
RMT Press Office:
As RMT protests at City Hall report reveals Tube bosses have given up ever restoring “insane” cuts to funding and MPs call for Mayor to take action to protect London Underground safety
As tube union RMT takes a cuts and safety protest to City Hall this morning the Mayor’s transport officials have admitted that they have given up on restoring funding to the Tube despite the cuts being labelled “insane” by Transport for London boss Mike Brown.
The revelation buried away in notes of a discussion with passenger watchdog London Travel Watch quotes the Mayor’s top transport official as saying
“Mr Brown remarked that the year had been the first financial year where their operating subsidy from the Government had been reduced from ‘£700 million to zero’. He commented that it was an ‘insane situation’ where passengers using public transport were subsidising the road maintenance of London. Mr Brown added, ‘it is nuts and I say it everywhere I go.’ A member asked how London TravelWatch could help to highlight this ‘daft situation’.. Mr Brown replied that on the first point, he would happily provide a response as to how London TravelWatch could help put TfL’s case forward for the return of their operational subsidy from the Government.”
Then, however at a subsequent meeting of the London Travelwatch Board it was reported that:
“TfL has now decided to abandon trying to have this subsidy returned to them and is now instead asking the Treasury to keep business rates that have been allocated to the Mayor, which is due to expire in 2020/2021.”
The revelation came as Tube workers are due to demonstrate outside City Hall from 10am this morning under the banner “No Tory Cuts Under A Labour Mayor” and MPs tabled a motion calling for the London Underground subsidy to be reinstated and for Transport for London to..
“protect safety and service by not cutting staffing, conditions, maintenance and engineering and meeting any funding shortfall through other mechanisms including ending profiteering on outsourced functions such as cleaning by bringing this work in house, borrowing and using reserves.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said,
“First, we find out that the Mayor’s senior Transport official has labelled Government cuts to the Tube “insane,” then we find out he has abandoned any campaign to get the cuts reversed.
“That is a dangerous failure to stand up for London as we are now witnessing unsafe cuts to staffing, maintenance and engineering. That is the issue at the heart of our current industrial dispute with London Underground.
“In contrast MPs are right to call for the Tube’s grant to be reinstated and they are right to warn of the dangers of making cuts to our network.
“We are demonstrating outside City Hall today to demand that the Mayor publicly and vigorously campaigns for Tube funding to be reinserted and for a Labour Mayor to refuse to carry out Tory cuts to the Tube.”
Ends
Notes for editors
At the London Travel Watch board meeting on 23rd October 2018 Mike Brown said:
“Mr Brown remarked that the year had been the first financial year where their operating subsidy from the Government had been reduced from ‘£700 million to zero’. He commented that it was an ‘insane situation’ where passengers using public transport were subsidising the road maintenance of London. Mr Brown added, ‘it is nuts and I say it everywhere I go.’ A member asked how London TravelWatch could help to highlight this ‘daft situation’.. Mr Brown replied that on the first point, he would happily provide a response as to how London TravelWatch could help put TfL’s case forward for the return of their operational subsidy from the Government.”
file:///C:/Users/jcroy/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/Z1G90FUT/Board%20minutes%2023.10.18.pdf
Then in matters arising from the April 2019 meeting, it states:
“TfL has now decided to abandon trying to have this subsidy returned to them and is now instead asking the Treasury to keep business rates that have been allocated to the Mayor, which is due to expire in 2020/2021.”
file:///C:/Users/jcroy/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/Z1G90FUT/LTW600%20Matters%20arising.pdf
The parliamentary motion tabled by Kate Hoey and others says
“That this House notes the importance of London Underground to our communities, economy and environment; pays tribute to the hard work of staff who keep the network running; is dismayed that the Government has withdrawn its operational subsidy for Transport for London, which means that London Underground is the only metro of its kind in the world that does not receive such subsidy; calls for the subsidy to be reinstated at a level that allows for the provision of a world-class service and affordable fares; further calls on Transport for London to protect safety and service by not cutting staffing, conditions, maintenance and engineering and meeting any funding shortfall through other mechanisms including ending profiteering on outsourced functions such as cleaning by bringing this work in house, borrowing and using reserves.”
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/53041/funding-and-protecting-london-underground-services
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