London technical officers have welcomed both a £7M increase in funding for local transport and greater flexibility in how they spend the money, announced by London mayor, Boris Johnson.

But Cllr Daniel Moylan, Conservative chairman of London Councils’ transport and environment committee, warned that ‘much of this extra money could be lost’ through bureaucracy in applying for and monitoring funding – despite efforts to reduce it.

Unveiling the £161M in funding for local implementation plan schemes in 2008/09, Johnson said he was different from his predecessor, ‘giving boroughs greater freedom to develop and deliver the schemes they want’.

For future years, the number of pots of money that boroughs can apply for will be cut from 23 to five. In 2008/09, £100,000 has been given to each borough to spend as they choose, although with the caveat that it can be demonstrated that it contributes to at least one mayoral objective.

This, which follows Transport for London’s pledge to review local implementation plan targets and simplify progress reports, was seen by London Councils as a ‘significant step forward in devolving decision-making’.

But, despite TfL’s agreement with London Councils’ lobbying on many points, Moylan remained critical. ‘If TfL is able to produce a 10-year business plan, then surely it should be able to provide boroughs with a similar forecast.’ London Councils had pressed for more multi-year funding, but TfL has only provided indicative allocations for 2009/10 However, borough technical officers struck a more conciliatory note.

London Technical Advisers chair, Joe Weiss, was ‘encouraged by the emphasis on efficiency’, while Darren Richards, Sutton council’s head of transport and planning, welcomed ‘a move away from a silo approach’.

Richards said it was recognition of the impact of Sutton’s ‘smarter travel’ pilot, involving multiple measures to change behaviour. ‘We can’t just build individual schemes. We need a package of measures linked to personalised travel planning and sustainable travel promotions,’ he said.