TfL Hands Whitehall Back £2 million In Unspent Cash

10.49.43am GMT Wed 10th Mar 2004

Commenting on the Written Ministerial Statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport that shows Transport for London, with the agreement of the Mayor, has handed back £2,408,000 to the Treasury, Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate, Simon Hughes said:- "The Mayor must explain why money that has been given to TfL for projects has gone unspent. The Mayor has doubled his share of Londoner's Council Tax in the last four years, but is happy to give the Labour Government back money."

"Every year Transport for London fails to spend all the money it has been given by the Government. Only this week TfL warned London about the future meltdown of our transport infrastructure. It is astounding that Tfl is failing to spend every last penny it is allocated by central Government."

Ends

Notes to editor

The Written Ministerial Statement was published at 11am today:-

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT

GLA Transport Grant Determination 2003/2004

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Tony McNulty): The Secretary of State for Transport has today re-determined the GLA transport grant at £1,681,932,000 for 2003/2004 following consultation with the Mayor of London, as required under section 101 of the GLA Act 1999. This represents a net reduction of £2,408,000, following lower than envisaged ring fenced expenditure by Transport for London on bus innovation projects.