Kingston And The Comprehensive Spending Review

The announcements in yesterday’s Comprehensive Spending Review are finally sinking in and people in Kingston are still working out how it will impact on their lives in the near future

While the Mayor of London happily states that Cross Rail and the tube upgrade in London will go ahead, people living in Kingston who rely on the trains will not be happy to find that peak train fares will be going up by inflation plus 3%  for 3 years from 2012.

Today it was revealed that in order to balance the books the zone 2-6 daily travelcard will be abolished and the 1-6  peak daily travelcard will got up to £15. 

A spokesman for the Mayor’s Office explained that  a PAYG Oyster card was cheaper to use however he didn’t not expand on the difficulties those living in Outer London Boroughs have with with topping up their Oyster cards at train stations.

Universities already received a blow in the Browne Review last week received another blow in yesterday's CSR.

Chris Dingle  VP of Kingston University Student’s Union said:

““The Comprehensive Spending Review announced reductions in the university teaching budget to be "offset" by huge increases in tuition fees; all of this has been proposed by ministers who benefited from free higher education, who are now placing horrific new burdens on students.”

While everyone is aware of the 500,000 jobs going in the public sector not everyone is aware of the effect of the CSR on private small businesses which are suppose to create jobs to offset this. 

As there are many small business in Kingston I spoke to to Bruce Burrowes, proprietor of TaxAssist Accountants Kingston.   He explained that the details of the CSR were sparse but the £1 billion “green investment bank” could provide a much needed boost to some loan-starved small businesses.

Bruce Burrowes  said that:

“Although the available capital has been halved, there are still funds to encourage additional investment in green infrastructure. For local entrepreneurs whose service involves recycling and carbon reduction, such as solar panels or small wind turbines, for example, this could be welcome news.”

Kingston Council services will also be hit as their budget from Central Government will be cut by  over a quarter and council tax will not be raised next year. 

The council hasn’t yet revealed how it will balance the books but according to reports in The Guardian  other councils will be cutting library services, making mass redundancies and increasing prices for other services.  The Telegraph reported that some councils could run out of money and have to be rescued by the government.

How do you think the the CSR  will impact you? Tell Kingston below.