Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced that efficiency savings made to the capital’s transport budget will be more than doubled.
Addressing the Conservative Party conference in Manchester this week, the mayor revealed that Transport for London’s (TfL) budget would be cut by £5bn instead of the £2.4bn as first announced.
The savings will be made without affecting frontline services, according to the mayor. He said TfL would make a number of ‘huge’ savings with a greater focus on reductions in back-office functions, organisational restructuring, and more efficient operational arrangements with suppliers. The total savings will be made over the TfL business plan period up to 2017/18.
The mayor pointed towards role reductions such as the 1,000 jobs axed following the integration of London Underground with Metronet – which saved £570m – as an example of efficiencies already made, adding that more cuts would be made across TfL’s workforce.
Reductions in the use of consultants and temporary staff are expected to save more than £220m, while streamlined processes could yield a further £400m.
Thousands of staff have been relocated from central London to cheaper premises, saving £130m, and the renegotiating of the Oyster ticketing contract alone could save £185m.
‘These savings mean that, in the toughest economic climate for decades, frontline services and investment vital to improving capacity and reliability and ensuring the future prosperity of London and the UK as a whole, are being protected,’ a spokesman for the mayor’s office said.
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