NEWS DESK

Mayor of London Boris Johnson today challenged London’s businesses and local authorities to come up with more ‘common sense’ ideas to improve the quality of life in the capital.

Speaking in front of hundreds of council leaders and senior staff at the London Councils Summit, he vowed to continue his work to make London a more civilized city for everyone to live. He highlighted how small changes can make a big difference to the quality of life for millions of Londoners.

Since becoming Mayor Boris Johnson has already banned alcohol on public transport, issued new guidance to make it possible for taxi’s to stop on the red route at night, allocated new funding to tackle London’s empty homes problem and is investing millions of pounds to improve London’s parks and plant thousands of trees across the capital.

Pledging to continue this work to improve the quality of life in the capital he said:

“London is a fantastic city and I’m proud to live here. But we can’t deny that for many Londoners there are a number of minor everyday irritations that when added together can become a major burden. Solving these irritants does not have to cost millions of pounds or involve schemes that take years to implement. There is an abundance of commonsense ideas out there that if executed could have an immediate effect on life in London.

“I’ve heard countless times from older Londoners who despair at the lack of public toilets in the city. I’d like to see shops, restaurants and bars across London open up their facilities to those in possession of a Freedom Pass.

“I will also be talking to Transport for London about what more TfL staff can do to help make the travelling experience of passengers more pleasant particularly for disabled passengers and mums.

“Out on the streets I’m going to be asking the boroughs to think of ways their staff can do more to help local residents. Why can’t we ask traffic wardens to be the eyes and ears of police or offer a hand to the elderly and not just march around the neighbourhood issuing penalties?

“Solving the little problems can make a huge difference.  I believe that the cumulative effect of these small victories for common sense, community and compassion will be to lift some of the burdens of living in London and go a long way to improving the quality of life in the capital.”