TfL ask for more time to look at “very complex” Whitehall funding arrangement

TRANSPORT for London chiefs have asked for more time to look at the detail of a long-term funding deal from central government.

Late last Friday evening the Department for Transport sent the body a proposal which would bring to an end a series of temporary bailouts and fraught negotiations, but TfL commissioner Andy Byford yesterday told the network’s board it came through “very late” and was “very complex.”

Byford said that the deal did not represent entirely new money nor was it the three-year deal which TfL has been asking for since the pandemic battered passenger revenues.

The contents of the deal remain private as they contain market sensitive information.

TfL has asked government to provide further short-term funding to keep the service running, with a previous injection set to run out today.

Byford told the board that he would not recommend the deal was accepted “if the offer is less than we need.”

The Commissioner’s call was backed by Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said it was “important that this offer is thoroughly reviewed in order to understand its impact on Londoners and the wider economy.”

Previous bailouts have come with strings attached, including aggressive savings targets which analysts have described as difficult to deliver in a high-inflationary environment.