much to the irritation of the ratepayers
The then GLC reduced London Bus and London Underground fares, paid for by a special 'supplementary rate' in a policy known as 'Fares Fair'. Although the measure was generally popular and led to a huge increase in the use of public transport, There were a few exceptions, Croydon's Tory leader, Peter Bowness, supported Fares Fair, but the overwhelming majority of Tories fought to out-do each other in support of the privatizers. Michael Hesletine at the Department of the Environment immediately clawed back £119million of the GLC's transport grant and Norman Fowler at the Department of Transport creamed £20million off the GLC's train subsidy. It was challenged by the Conservative-controlled Bromley Council where there were no London Underground stations, and struck down as unlawful by the Law Lords in December, 1981. Lord Diplock had this to say in his judgment which was highly critical of the GLC. "A local authority owes a fiduciary duty to the ratepayers from whom it obtains moneys needed to carry out its statutory functions, and this includes a duty not to expend those moneys thriftlessly but to deploy the full financial resources available to it to the best advantage". 'Fiduciary Duty' is the duty to spend money wisely. Bromley's case was won on a premise that unfortunately was later to be proved false, that the small increase in rates was a waste of public money. He ruled that Fares Fair was inconsistent with business principles ignoring the fact that even when central government claw-backs were taken into account it was paying for itself. Threep. |
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