·         Frozen the Council Tax for two years running. After allowing for inflation this means a cut in real terms. Over the eight years as Mayor, Ken Livingstone increased his take of council tax by 153 per cent.

 

·         The Mayor is investing £60 million to bring empty homes back into use for affordable housing, more than three times the financial commitment made by the previous Mayor.

 

·         There are 400 more police officers for buses.

 

·         Free travel has been introduced for veterans.

 

·         Helped to bring about common sense changes such as Metropolitan Police officers going on the beat individually rather than in pairs.

 

·         Traffic lights resignalling.  TfL is increasing the usage of the ‘intelligent’ SCOOT (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) system from the existing 2000 sites, to 3000 sites, by 2015/16.  It is also reviewing timings at 1000 traffic signal sites annually. These measures will allow traffic lights to adjust their own timings in response to traffic conditions. "There is surely not a single Londoner who has not waited at a red light at two in the morning on a deserted street and wondered why on earth they are being delayed," says Boris. TfL’s signal timing reviews are having a noticeable impact in smoothing traffic flow.  He has also allowed Ealing to bag up traffic lights.

 

·         The various GLA bodies now employ 13 fewer press officers than under Ken Livingstone.

 

·         Rough sleeping has been reduced by two thirds. The successes to date have not required additional funds but are a result of better co-ordination between the agencies responsible. The estimated number of persistent rough sleepers across London is down from 205 under Ken Livingstone to 67 now.

 

·         A series of new City Academies are being sponsored.  The first Mayoral Academy will be Turin Grove School in Edmonton, open from September.

 

·         The Mayor's Fund has been launched to tackle child poverty.

 

·         1500 new street trees have been planted. 2000 more will have been planted by the end of 2010/11.

 

·         12,000 affordable homes have been completed - far more than under Ken Livingstone.

 

·         Has issued guidance that new publicly funded social-housing homes must have higher standards.  The minimum space standards recommended are broadly ten per cent higher than the 1961 Parker Morris benchmark. An end to the Livingstone era rabbit hutches.

 

·         Oyster extended to national rail from this year, and also to the River Bus.

 

·         Far more transparency. All spending over £1,000 is published on the website as well as expenses claims. Wrong doing is dealt with robustly rather than hidden or denied which was the culture under the previous regime.

 

·         Brought back Christmas - hosting various carol concerts, etc..

 

·         While cycling through Camden, the Mayor saw Franny Armstrong under attack by hoodies. He set an example to Londoners by coming to her assistance.

 

·         Motorcycles are being allowed in bus lanes on TfL roads with the double aim of reducing congestion on the roads, and reducing the number of accidents involving motorcyclists.

 

·         A 24 hour Freedom Pass.

 

·         Scrapping The Londoner newspaper - saving £3 million a year.

 

·         Backing the sensitive use by the police of stop and search, which has so far taken almost 5,000 knives off the streets.

·         Giving a higher priority to English tuition for refugees. The Mayor's new migration board will prioritise better ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) provision across London.

 

·         11 rundown parks (including Burgess Park in Southwark) are being rejuvenated with grants of £400,000 each from City Hall.

 

·         Launch of the Status Dogs Unit by the Metropolitan Police with the removal of 680 dangerous and/or illegal dogs from London's streets - often pitbulls.

 

·         Overall crime on the Tube and DLR is down by 8%. Robbery is down by 29.2%, violent crime is down 2.6% and public disorder offences are down by 4.5%.

 

·         There are Northern line improvements with a new control centre and computerised signalling system, scheduled to be delivered in 2012.  This will enable trains to run closer together and at higher speeds, cutting journey times by 18 per cent and increasing capacity by 20 per cent.

 

·         The Mayor is pushing ahead strongly with Crossrail.

 

·         Crime mapping has been introduced allowing Londoners to find out about the level of crime in their neighbourhood.

 

(With thanks to the Conservative Home team)