Transport for LondonWorking with the London boroughs
Skip to navigation << Back to indexBoroughs are key partners in delivering the Mayor's Transport Strategy. During the year, the Borough Partnerships Group and TfL businesses worked closely with boroughs and their partners, the GLA and the ALG, to improve London's transport system.
In 2002/03, boroughs received £130 million in TfL funding through Borough Spending Plans. These funds supported investment in bus priority, road safety, maintenance, walking, cycling and other local projects such as town centre improvements. The funding announcement for 2003/04 was brought forward from December to October 2002 to give boroughs more time to plan their programmes.
A number of other funding schemes and programmes such as the interchange programme, also directly benefited the boroughs.
In April 2002, a new TfL Travel Awareness team was created and in October 2002, for the first time ever, all London boroughs agreed to the Safer Routes to School programmes. Over 100 schools benefited from this London-wide programme.
TfL supported the GLA's planning function by providing comments and advice on the transport elements of fourteen borough Unitary Development Plans and over 170 planning applications referred to the Mayor. In partnership with boroughs, TfL negotiated planning agreements with developers for contributions towards the costs of transport projects. Support was also given to boroughs and the GLA at the London Plan Examination in Public.
TfL produces a quarterly newsletter 'Transport for London News' - which is posted to every councillor in London. Three issues this year have been published and these keep councillors up to date with TfL's plans and projects.
TfL undertook a benchmark survey of key stakeholders in which over 200 councillors responded with a range of views as to how TfL communicates with them. The results will be used as a baseline from which future surveys can be measured.
Following a Best Value review and in response to comment made in various sectors, London Buses has reviewed its approach to consultation and the allied procedures. All the boroughs were consulted as part of the review. Earlier consultation on bus service changes is now taking place to meet the aims of wider and fuller consultation.
A channel of communication that is being exploited to good effect with the boroughs is the use of the Member-level quarterly liaison meetings between the boroughs and London Buses, not only for consultation, but also for discussing the work that TfL is pursuing and understanding local and strategic aspirations and concerns.
Discussions with boroughs about a 10-year bus priority action plan have been ongoing and a draft plan created. Two pilot routes are being studied.
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