Caroline Pidgeon welcomed the Mayor's allocation of an extra £15m to fight knife crime in 2018, but called for more dedicated youth workers in A&E to focus on intervention and support for every victim.
Caroline Pidgeon AM pressed the Mayor to explain what he is doing to deliver youth services in London's hospitals to divert young people away from knife violence.
Writing at the MayorWatch website, Caroline Pidgeon cautions that the Mayor's office is sending out press releases about a London Plan that is in the drafting process and will not be completed until autumn 2019.
Caroline asks the media to ask critical questions about what they read:
"For a start, all the media reports in the last week have been based on a document that has not even been published until today."
Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member, commenting on the Mayor’s reply to her questioning about the need for a London Underground station at the Bricklayer’s Arms as part of the Bakerloo Line extension, said:
Commenting on the announcement that the Mayor is proposing to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone to the whole of London for bus, coaches and lorries from October 2020, Caroline Pidgeon said:
“The Mayor is right to move closer to a comprehensive and expanded Ultra-Low Emission Zone.
“However, while these proposals are right we should not for one moment pretend that the Mayor is doing everything in his powers to tackle London’s toxic air. For the Mayor to peddle this claim is misleading in the extreme.
Inside Croydon reports on the ineffectiveness of Croydon council's landlord licensing scheme - with only one prosecution in the last year.
Caroline told Inside Croydon:
“Within London’s private rented sector there is now a need for a proper and robust framework of regulation across the entire city. The data clearly demonstrates that only a rigorous regime of licensing will result in the enforcement needed to put an end to the problem of rogue landlords that exist across every part of London.”
Caroline questioned the Mayor on the rollout of rapid charging points for electric cars, and forced him to admit that the project is well behind schedule.
Caroline Pidgeon has set out in a letter to the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime a number of concerns with plans to close some police stations and put more reliance in technology.
In particular, Caroline says:
The plan is lacking in detail and many residents have serious concerns about the scope and extent of the Mayor’s police closure plans. These need to be properly addressed.
As the consultation over the Mayor’s plans to close and sell off police stations across London comes to an end, a call has been made for the Mayor to first examine the continuing practice of senior police officers being offered free accommodation in expensive flats.
