Leonie Cooper, Assembly Member for Merton and Wandsworth

Leonie Cooper, Assembly Member for Merton and Wandsworth, gave an update on activities for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. Leonie reminded residents that there are 25 assembly members, and their role is to hold Mayor of London and GLA services to account.

There are three big issues at the moment: changes at the Metropolitan Police, the culture at London Fire Brigade and the extension of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone. 

Following the departure of Cressida Dick, the new Commissioner is Sir Mark Rowley. The Commissioner is meeting with all assembly members tomorrow. The Commissioner needs to address the culture issues that have come to light including abusive messages, the murder of Sarah Everard, and the poor investigation into murders of young gay men in east London. The Met has a lot of work to do to re-establish trust and build a better relationship with large sections of London’s community.

The independent review of culture at London Fire Brigade, following suicide of officer, found significant cultural issues including treatment of women, and BME officers. The Fire Commissioner came to Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee on Tuesday and is said they were keen to implement recommendations of report as soon as possible

There had also been discussion at Assembly about a proposal to change the Mayoral Transport strategy to allow for the introduction of smart user charging and the extension of ULEZ to London wide from August 2023. Alongside this will include scrappage scheme, retrofitting, and exemptions for some groups.

A resident asked that if a relatively small number of residents are affected by the ULEZ extension will it have an impact on air quality. Leonie said that when the ULEZ was introduced in central London compliance went from 40% of vehicles to 65%, and for inner London up to 85%. Serious health problems have been reduced in central London, so we now need to address the same problems in Outer London. World Health Organisation guidance from 2012 said diesel fumes are carcinogenic but there was no immediate change to transport policy. Clear evidence for damage from particles produced by diesel cars has increased recently so action has become more urgent. The ULEZ extension will hopefully reduce non-compliant cars further.

A residents asked what percentage of all cars fail to comply. Leonie said she did not know that specific figure for Merton, but half of Londoners do not have cars. If your petrol car is post 2008, or diesel post-2015 then there will be no impact. Other vehicles will be charged £12.50 per day. Residents can use the vehicle checker to find out if their car is compliant.

A resident said that cleaner vehicle discount is due to end in 2025 and asked if there would be enough charging points for electric. Leonie said that there is a complicated set of discounts and exemptions with different timetables so residents should check the website for details.

Cllr Jil Hall said she had been involved in equality training for London Fire Brigade 20 years ago so astounded and saddened that these problems still exist. Cllr Hall asked what would be the cost of the infrastructure needed for the extension. Leonie said much of the infrastructure was already there to enforce the Low Emission Zone for HGVs. The capital budget will be separate from revenue and any income from fines will be used for projects to improve air quality like school streets and green walls. Leonie said that sadly the issues with the LFB are a reflection of issues in society with similar attitudes.

A resident asked if there will be improvements to bus services in Merton or surrounding boroughs? Leonie said that most buses have been retrofitted or been replaced with electric hybrid or hydrogen. There are 9000 buses in London so complete replacement will take some time. The Mayor of London had undertaken a review of central London bus routes, and will be making some changes including improvements in Sutton, and some of the buses in central London will move to outer London where there are fewer alternative modes of public transport. We will need to wait to find out what these changes are, and these will be for 2023/24. Residents can raise problems with specific services with Leonie to present to TfL and Deputy Mayor.

A resident asked about the loss of greenbelt land and the impact of the proposals from the All-England Lawn Tennis Club. Leonie said that she had led on a report that recommended biodiversity net gain for planning proposals which has been included in the London plan. Mayor of London has also made priority of protecting greenbelt. Leonie said that she was sceptical that the about the AELTC proposal improving biodiversity so was against application, but she would not involved in making the decision.

A resident asked about bus routes changing need more cross river connections. Leonie said she raises this issue regularly and there is a need to improve connectivity especially for new developments like in Roehampton.