Thank you to everyone who has contacted me in recent days to raise concerns about the future of Transport for London (TfL) funding.

As you may know, TfL has been dealing with a financial crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has secured more than £4 billion of Government funding in three bailouts since the start of the pandemic to keep Tube and bus services running. TfL is now seeking a further £500 million to keep the services running for the rest of the year.

The current deal was due to end on 11^th December 2021. The Government has now agreed to extend the terms by a week. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said he will have to raise council tax in London and reduce free travel for over-60s.

On 16^th December 2021, my colleague Louise Haigh (Shadow Secretary of State for Transport) called on the Government to meet with the Mayor and expressed concerns that Ministers “continue to force a cliff-edge negotiation on TfL finances… that will punish hard-working Londoners for simply doing the right thing”.

I very much share your concerns about this and will continue to monitor the situation very closely.