Sadiq Khan has been accused by the Conservatives of wasting £123million of taxpayer money on “misplaced priorities”.
The Tories urged Khan to put the money he allegedly spent on beach parties, personality tests and salaries for his staff members to “better use”.
They recommended he instead spend the cash on improving health in London, building scooter highways and discounted groceries for communities in need.
The report has claimed that Khan has spent over £123million of public money during his time in City Hall.
Beach parties at the Royal Docks, a £10million training course to determine Met Police’s personalities and a large pay packet for London’s nightlife adviser have all come under scrutiny in the report.
The Mayor’s team has fired back at the Conservatives, calling the report “deliberately misleading”.
They disputed the claim that £10million was spent determining the “colour of the Metropolitan Police officers’ personalities” and stated that the money was used to deliver “a comprehensive training package covering a whole range of areas”.
Khan’s team also said that the “beach parties” at the Royal Docks is an event that began running in 2013, three years before the Mayor was elected.
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The Tories claim that £10million was spent determining the ‘colour of the Metropolitan Police officers’ personalities’
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Emma Best, the City Conservatives’ health spokesman, described the Tories’ School Superzones programme, which they believe the money should have been poured into instead.
It would consist of “secure, colourful and imaginative lanes for scooting and cycling with role play tyre checkers, bumps and race lanes”.
A bike course for young people as well as the implementation of swimming lessons for the key stage two curriculum, were put forward by the Conservatives.
Best said: “This report seeks not to analyse every single health-related issue facing Londoners today, but instead focuses on those areas of Londoners’ health where the mayor and the GLA can do something that will have a real impact. While Londoners struggle with the cost of living, Khan wastes millions on spin doctors, marketing and pointless initiatives.
Khan’s team fired back at the claims
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“Many of the statistics are revealing, showing that contrary to popular belief, hundreds of thousands of Londoners are facing poor health which can be entirely avoidable.
“Tackling obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV transmissions, poor vaccine uptake and other issues outlined within this report should all be key priorities for whoever resides in the Mayor’s office.
“This report therefore ties together data from across London and sets out a number of reasonable proposals, which I hope the mayor adopts.”
Disputing these claims, a source close to Khan said: “This is a misleading attack from the Tories in London, trying to distract from their terrible record in government of soaring rents and mortgage bills and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
“We certainly won’t take lectures from London Tories who backed Liz Truss’ disastrous mini budget, causing chaos for millions of Londoners.”
