Watchdog exposes council’s £400k for low-traffic zones

THE data watchdog forced a “secretive” Labour-run council to reveal it had paid a cycling charity more than £400,000 to help set up low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).

Campaigners opposed to them used Freedom of Information laws to ask London’s Lambeth council to disclose how much it had paid Sustrans, a charitable company that promotes cycling and walking.

But for 15 months, the south London local authority repeatedly refused to say how much taxpayers’ money it had given them.

It said the payments were “commercially sensitive” and disclosure was “not in the public interest”.

It was only when campaigners contacted the Information Commissioner who supported their appeal that the council last month apologised and revealed five years of payments.

Sustrans received £126,096 of Lambeth council taxpayers’ money in the financial year 2020-21 when the local authority began building five trial LTNs, which involve closing roads to through traffic. A further £95,916 was paid in 2018-19 and £77,456 in 2019-20 when the council had started consulting the public about them. In 2021-22, the charity received £54,853 and a further £52,662 for part of this financial year. It means that in five years Sustrans was paid just short of £407,000.

A spokesman for Social and Environmental Justice, which highlights what it sees as the injustices of LTNs which submitted the data request, said: “Lambeth’s secretive behaviour is typical of the dismissive attitude of many councils towards those with legitimate concerns about Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.

“We are in a cost-of-living crisis, yet central government and councils across the country continue to throw millions of pounds of public money at the ‘charities’, private consultants and building contractors, that have created a highly lucrative industry around unjust LTN traffic relocation schemes.”

A Lambeth spokesman said the council was trying to make “neighbourhoods fairer and fit for the future”. He said the work with Sustrans contributed to its aim of “involving our residents”.

James Cleeton, of Sustrans, said: “It is not unusual for charities to support delivery of public services and it is widely recognised that charities can bring higher levels of innovation and expertise with a return on investment that is more cost effective for the public purse. We understand changes can often be hard for people to get used to.”