Supporting older Londoners
London is neither a ‘young’ city nor a retirement town. It defies such descriptions, with a significant older population living alongside a younger one, contributing a huge amount from the capital’s culture and economy.
There are over 1.2 million people in London who are aged 60 and over, and this proportion is expected to grow fast over the next 20 years. The number of people over 65 is projected to increase by 34% (nearly 300,000) to reach 1.17 million by 2031.
The biggest concern for older Londoners is to ensuring their home and neighbourhood is safe and their environment a pleasant place to live. That is why I have worked hard to cut waste and make sure public funding is spent on Londoners priorities, including putting a 1,000 extra police officers on London’s streets since 2008 leading to a 10% cut in overall crime and 30% on the bus network; scrapping my predecessor’s propaganda newspaper ‘The Londoner’ and investing the savings on planting 10,000 street trees; and protecting and extending the Freedom Pass to 24 hours.
But there is more to do.