Leonie Cooper, Assembly Member for Merton and Wandsworth

Leonie Cooper, Assembly Member for Merton and Wandsworth, provided an update on the work of the London Assembly. The Assembly consists of 25 members, and Leonie was elected in 2016 and 2020 to represent Merton and Wandsworth. The Assembly’s role is to hold the Mayor of London to account in the areas where he has responsibility.

Transport for London has been in an ongoing fight between City Hall and Department for Transport. TfL funding has been entirely from fares income since 2018 so COVID had a huge impact on income levels. Central government has funded other travel bodies without conditions but for TfL there have been a lot of difficult conditions to qualify for funding. The final station on the Elizabeth Line, Bond Street is set to open. Leonie has lots of case work in relation to issues on TfL roads.

London Fire Brigade HMI report also found there was a need to change culture and other changes are being made in response to the Grenfell disaster including new equipment and policies. There had been a huge problem with grass fires in the summer resulting in a dramatic increase in calls to their call centre in Merton.

Metropolitan Police has a new commissioner in Sir Mark Rowley. There is a lot to be done to regain public trust with Dame Louise Casey’s report highlighting the scale of the issue with the culture in the Met. The Commissioner is hoping to have more officers from the national recruitment programme.

A resident asked about expenses for councillors and Leonie said councillors receive an allowance, details of which are on the website. 

Cllr Cox asked about the plans to extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone to cover the whole of London. Leonie said TfL has recently consulted on this plan and plans to reduce bus services in central London and we are waiting for results to be published. Leonie expects a decision in November or December.

A resident asked about restrictions on the use of the freedom pass and if these are likely to return to the pre-Covid conditions. Leonie said that the restrictions were one of the conditions attached to a Department of Transport deal and were introduced to tackle overcrowding at peak hours. Now they are part of funding cuts so it is unlikely they will be reversed.

Cllr Dollimore asked about lowering the speed limit on St Helier Avenue from 40 to 30 MPH and the need for more pedestrian crossings. Leonie said it can be hard to get a response from TfL so there is not any news at the moment. More broadly TfL is moving to 20MPH speed limits on the roads it manages. A resident said St Helier needs more than just a reduction in speed restrictions to make it safe, and Leonie agreed that enforcement will also need to be considered. Cllr Dollimore reminded residents they can contact their local Safer Neighbourhood Team to arrange for Speedwatch events to monitor speeds on problem roads.

A resident asked about the roll out of electric buses and Leonie said that TfL has a programme of buying new hybrid buses, retrofitting diesel buses and introducing hydrogen cell buses. A move to fully electric is slow because of the infrastructure required. TfL is also moving the taxi fleet from diesel to electric. A resident asked if it was possible to re-introduce trolly buses and Leonie said this was one of the options considered for the tram extension, but they do require significant infrastructure.

Cllr McLean asked about plans for Wimbledon police station. Leonie said a new Estate Strategy will set out plans and is supposed to be released in the autumn, but no date has been set yet.

Cllr Mercer asked if the 20MPH limits would be across London and Leonie said TfL controls 5% of roads in London so they can only enforce any limit on those roads.

A resident asked if it was possible to stop lights being left on overnight in offices and shops, and Leonie said that the Mayor does not have the power to enforce this, but given the rise in costs this might change behaviour.

A resident asked about step-free access and the lack of investment at Morden station, and Leonie said that £200m has been spent on improving access but this can be difficult in some stations, including on the Northern Line south of Clapham.