Shaun Bailey has clashed with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan following claims that a £70 million project has only delivered 109 jobs since 2017.
The claim was made in a new report by the Conservative London Assembly member, who is himself running to be Mayor of London in May’s election.
Mr Bailey said in the report that the mayor’s Good Growth Fund, launched in 2017, has only delivered 1.8 per cent of the 6,000 jobs that were promised.
The mayor’s office, however, says that nearly 1,000 jobs have been created as a result of the scheme.
Shaun Bailey today said that Sadiq Khan’s jobs schemes “aren’t delivering” and has called on him to review them to see if any could be fast-tracked to aid London’s economic recovery.
In the report, Mr Bailey said: “Many of the Mayor’s job-creation employment schemes are slow to realise with many not expected to see results for years to come. For example, the Mayor’s Good Growth Fund worth £70 million has only created 109 jobs from three projects.
“This is despite a projection of creating more than 6,000 jobs from 83 projects. With job-creation key to London’s recovery, the Mayor should review all schemes with the aim of identifying which can be accelerated to yield quicker results and a more immediate boost to London’s economic recovery.”
But a spokesperson for the Mayor of London has today hit out at the claims and called the report “complete nonsense”.
Read More: Sadiq Khan announces £5 million plan to aid economic recovery
The spokesperson said: “This is complete nonsense. The Mayor’s Good Growth Fund has so far helped create nearly 1,000 jobs in the capital. It is about much more than jobs, including regenerating high streets, investing in local facilities and helping Londoners play an active role in their communities.
“Sadiq is working directly with businesses on a bold roadmap for the full and safe re-opening of the economy and last week he committed an extra £5 million to support getting central London open again, including a new drive to encourage visitors to return. Meanwhile, the Government have published nothing in terms of an economic or social recovery plan for London or the UK.”
The number quoted by Shaun Bailey in his report was provided by the Mayor of London at a meeting of the London Assembly in June 2020.
At the time, the mayor said 109 jobs had been created as a result of completed projects, with 42 jobs created in Tower Hamlets and 67 in Southwark.
The mayor’s office today said the total number of jobs created by projects in all rounds of Good Growth funding so far was 932.
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