The Mayor of London Boris Johnson budget proposals include savings of £12 million next year on City Hall's current £79 million spending - an impressive 15%. Achieving this target will be greatly assisted by the report of the Mayor's Forensic Audit Panel Unfortunately that doesn't mean the Council Tax precept will be going down as other areas within the Greater London Authority are due to rise - although the overall increase is planned to be below inflation at 1.25%.
It's fine spending more on the police provided value for money can be achieved. This is a point which will already have occurred to Boris's capable Deputy Mayor for policing Kit Malthouse.
But what would probably be of greater potential relief to Londoners - both as commuters and Council Taxpayers - would be for Transport for London to be run with greater efficiency. Proper asset management, tackling overmanning, a less craven approach to the unions. If TfL was run at a profit - which given the high fares it charges it should be - then the Council Tax precept could be cut.
