London Assembly members Siân Berry and Caroline Russell won praise from every other party, as they presented their proposals for London’s budget.
Siân Berry said: “We’re at the end of the current Mayor’s term and yet he has left nearly £71 million unspent – that’s a lot of money for Sadiq Khan to just lose down the back of the sofa. Our Green budget proposal puts this fund to good use, helping young Londoners, renters, people who need access to more toilets; ensuring cleaner air near schools as well as our ‘Sundays Out’ plan for a flat fare on public transport.”
“The fact our plans had such a positive response from every other party shows that we do things differently – Greens have a proven record of achieving important changes for Londoners. Londoners can trust us to focus on sorting out the things that need addressing most urgently.”
One of the amendments proposed was put forward by Green Assembly Member and Highbury West councilor Caroline Russell for £18 million of funding for new, free public loos.
Three quarters of the public say there are not enough public toilets in the UK, particularly at bus and train stations. Moreover, for people who have a more urgent need for facilities, lack of public conveniences can create a ‘loo leash’ with fears about access to a toilet leading to one in five not going out as often as they would like. Most people expect train stations to have toilets and plan travel around that. However, at TfL stations it is mostly impossible to find a free loo. Network Rail stations in London have free facilities but not all TfL toilets are free to use.
Green Assembly Member Caroline Russell said: “People who plan trips around toilets – older people, those with disabilities or medical conditions – shouldn’t have their lives limited by a lack of loos.”