“Covid-19 has had and continues to have a profound and too often a tragic impact on the lives of Londoners. Thousands of people in our city have died already and continue to do so. Many more have suffered from the effects of the virus and yet more will” The Mayor of #London, Sadiq Khan #UK

Channel 1 Los Angeles

11/17/2020 London

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today set out how he will help the capital recover from Covid-19 with a significantly reduced budget.

Publishing his draft Budget for the Greater London Authority (GLA), the Mayor envisages how he will restore confidence in the city, minimise the impact on London’s communities and ‘build back better’ the city’s economy and society.

However, this Budget is shaped by a significant reduction in the financial resources available to the Mayor because of a forecast unprecedented loss of business rates and council tax income, caused by Covid-19, and the Government’s refusal to adequately fund local and regional government in London.

As a result, today’s draft Budget – which covers just the money directly apportioned to the GLA excluding the London Assembly and does not include funding for the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London and the London Fire Brigade – anticipates that £38m less will be available for 2021-22 than was expected before the pandemic hit, eight months ago. 

The Mayor’s draft Budget concentrates funding on the city’s recovery from the pandemic. This is both the immediate recovery, but also in the medium to longer term. The budget includes a focus on the nine long-term measures that have been agreed by the London Recovery Board to enable a positive recovery from the pandemic across the city. These ‘missions’ are designed to tackle economic and social issues caused by the pandemic head-on.