Boris Johnson is making £3.5 billion of savings across the Greater London Authority (GLA) group over the life of his administration (GLA, Mayor’s Final Draft Consolidated Budget 2012-13, Part 1, 1 February 2012, p. 3, link). He has already saved over £2 billion and will make further savings of £1.5 billion

• Boris Johnson has already saved over £2 billion, including £1.8 billion in the Transport for London (TfL) budget and over £300 million in the budgets for the GLA and other functional bodies (GLA, Final Draft Consolidated Budget 2012-13: Explanation of Proposals, 1 February 2012, p. 117, link).

• Boris Johnson’s budget for 2012-13 will make further savings of £1.5 billion, including: TfL £1.132 billion, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC) £321 million, GLA £3 million and the fire authority (LFEPA) £21 million, totalling £1.477 billion (GLA, Final Draft Consolidated Budget 2012-13: Explanation of Proposals, 1 February 2012, p. 117, link).

Boris has already made substantial savings, and has paved the way for many more. He has:

• Slashed bureaucracy by £30 million a year, through removing 530 posts at the GLA, LDA and Homes and Community Agency (HCA) since 2008 (GLA, Final Draft Consolidated Budget for 2012-13: Mayor's Background Statement in support of his Final Draft Consolidated Budget for 2012-13, 4.3, link).
• Scrapped Ken Livingstone’s propaganda sheet The Londoner, which cost £2.8 million a year (Mayor of London, Mayor’s Questions, 12 December 2007, 2971/2007, link).
• Ended City Hall’s subscription for 40 copies of the Morning Star every day, costing the taxpayer £10,000 a year (Iain Dale’s Dairy, 9 May 2008, link).
• Frozen the salaries of TfL bosses and slashed their bonus pot by £1 million in 2009 (The Evening Standard, 8 April 2009, link).
• Published all City Hall expenditure over £500, ensuring that Londoners know where their money is spent (GLA Website, ‘Expenditure over £500’, link).
  
  By delivering £3.5 billion in efficiencies and savings, Boris Johnson has been able to:
  
  • Freeze council tax for three years.
  • Cut council tax this year putting money back in Londoner’s pockets.
  • Invest billions in tube improvements and Crossrail.
  • Ensure there are 1,000 more police on London’s street.

Return to the 9 point plan for Greater London