Caroline's news

The Evening Standard reports on the pressure on the Mayor from the London Assembly to restrict free travel privileges to TfL employees themselves - not to anyone that they share an address with.

Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the London Assembly Lib Dems, is quoted:

Staff should retain rights to free travel, but it costs £30 million a year to allow TfL employees to nominate a friend or family member to get free travel. This money could go towards holding down fares. It is madness that friends, family members and even lodgers of TfL staff can get free travel.

You can read the full article here.

Caroline Pidgeon was guest speaker at the Lewisham Lib Dem Supper Club in January at a Thai restaurant in Brockley.

Caroline spoke about the transport issues in London where the Mayor has really let Londoners down, and listened to concerns from local members about local issues such as keeping safer neighbourhood teams and the libraries that are under threat from Labour-run Lewisham Council.

The Metropolitan Police Service last week admitted that in the next two years there will be severe cuts across London in the number of police sergeants working in Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

Following questions from Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, budget figures supplied by Tim Godwin, the Acting Commissioner of the Met, revealed that over the course of the next year 100 Sergeants posts are set to be lost from Safer Neighbourhood Teams across the capital. Assistant Commissioner Godwin also admitted to Caroline Pidgeon that by April 2013 a total of 300 sergeants will have been lost from London’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams, cutting in half the number of sergeants across London currently allocated to the neighbourhood policing teams.

The Enfield Independent newspaper covers a debate on the Alternative Vote referendum at Enfield Civic Centre.

Caroline Pidgeon argued for AV at the debate, saying:

If we want people involved and engaged in democracy then we need for them to know that their vote will actually count.

Having to get over half the votes of constituents is a bare minimum you should achieve and for too many parts of the country that's not the case and that can't be right.

You can read the full article here.

Caroline Pidgeon AM took a small group of members from Barnet around City Hall on Thursday 27th January. Caroline talked about the work of the Assembly in holding the Mayor to account as well as showing the team the amazing views form the top of City Hall - London's Living Room.