Sadiq Khan criticised for £512m spending boost ahead of election

Sadiq Khan has been criticised for pledging a £512m spending boost in his draft City Hall budget for next year ahead of the mayoral elections.

The mayor has published his draft outlines for the Greater London Authority (GLA’s) finances for 2024-25, which include a £512m “uplift” to budgets including free school meals, TfL and the Met Police.

But the Labour mayor has been criticised by colleagues in rival parties who branded the move a “sticking plaster” and claimed it confirmed “he can’t manage money”. 

Khan’s budget covers all the financial income he has control over – including his share of council tax, or the ‘precept’ which is set to rise by almost £40 for Band D properties in April, TfL fare income and business rates. 

It also sets out his total £17.4bn expenditure, which is broken down across responsibilities including the mayor’s office, the London Assembly, the mayor’s office for policing and crime (MOPAC), Transport for London (TfL) as the London Fire Brigade (LFB).

The budget documents cover a £512.1m “additional uplift” – which was not included in the previous consultation budget. It covers £140m for free school meals, £30m for funding 500 existing police offices, and £50m towards extending the ULEZ scrappage scheme.

However, the exclusion of the money has sparked criticism from opponents as the mayoral race begins to hot up before May.

Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem assembly group leader, said: “This is a sticking plaster budget from the Mayor in an attempt to try and see himself through the upcoming election. 

“Magically, the Mayor seems to have found pots of money that only a few weeks ago he was denying existed.

“Our emergency and transport services are creaking at the seams and overstretched, and this budget won’t fix that.”

And City Hall Conservatives leader Neil Garratt added: “Last night, the mayor announced he has found half a billion pounds of Londoners’ money down the back of the City Hall sofa.

“Half of this money has come from reserves – money he stashed away while crying poor and receiving billions in taxpayer bailouts from the government.”

But Khan insisted: “This budget will help us to continue building a fairer, greener and safer London for everyone. 

“This includes funding to support Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis, like delivering free school meals to all state primary schools for another year, saving families up to £1,000 per child, and extending funding for another year for free holiday meals.”

And he added: “I’m stepping up and providing an extra £88m to fund our police where ministers have failed. 

“As Mayor, I’m having to use all the levers at my disposal to provide urgent additional funding from City Hall, particularly for the police.”

The final draft budget will be released in February and must be approved by the London Assembly.