Londoners to get 'more bang for their buck' with Mayor's £12m budget cut

The Mayor will spend the cash saved on other priorities, including preventing youth crime and improving quality of life for Londoners.

The saving, representing 15 per cent of the Greater London Authority's £79million budget, is intended to show that the Mayor is serious about offering value for money.

It comes after his forensic audit panel, headed by former Sunday Telegraph editor Patience Wheatcroft, claimed tens of millions of pounds of public money had been squandered by the London Development Agency under Ken Livingstone.

The panel said expenditure and staffing at the building did "appear inflated" and could be slashed without risk to other services.

The £12 million saving was revealed in the Mayor's annual budget guidance for the GLA, published today.

It pledges to increase the GLA budget, which excludes City Hall's contribution to the Olympics, by 1.25 per cent a year until 2011-12.

There will also be below inflation increases for the Metropolitan Police Authority's £2.6billion budget and the Fire Service's £425million budget. Mr Johnson has already scrapped the Londoner newspaper to raise £3 million to pay for 10,000 street trees and spruce up run down parks.

"Tackling crime, delivering value for money and improving the quality of life in London are my administration's top priorities," said the Mayor.

"Crime is the number one issue for Londoners. Tackling the long-term root causes of crime and violence and ensuring a visible police presence on the streets must become the priority for the entire GLA group."

On delivering greater value for money, Mr Johnson said there were a series of areas where the GLA and the London Development Agency could be improved and made to work far more efficiently. He added that he had taken a series of decisions to improve the quality of life in London since he was elected in May. "I will continue this work to improve everyday life in the capital with better housing and protection for open spaces," he said.

The guidance set out the Mayor's priorities for the next year: delivering value for money and better quality of life for all Londoners; prioritising measures to help reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2025 and promote open green spaces; supporting the delivery of the London 2012 Olympics and its legacy; delivering the Mayor's revised Housing Strategy; implementing the living wage for London; and promoting equality in the workforce.

Mr Johnson's first budget will go out for consultation in December and will be presented to the London Assembly at the start of next year.

He has to secure the approval of the Assembly for his budget, but is likely to have to cut deals with non-Conservative members to get it through.