Latest news with #SimonHogg
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Labour council offer asylum seekers half price e-bikes
A Labour council is offering 50 per cent off e-bike rentals to asylum seekers. Wandsworth Borough Council, which Labour won from the Tories in 2022, offers discounts from 50 per cent to 100 per cent on services including gym sessions, swimming lessons, wedding ceremonies and event tickets. Asylum seekers, people in receipt of benefits, children getting free school meals, and looked-after children, are eligible for the Access for All concessions scheme. The council has announced that a 50 per cent discount for e-bike rentals will now be included in the scheme as a result of 'a pioneering deal with Lime, Forest and Voi', three providers of the bikes. Simon Hogg, the council leader, said: 'It's about opening up affordable, sustainable travel that helps our residents to access work and entertainment opportunities across the borough. 'We're proud that Lime, Forest and Voi have agreed to join Access for All and to operate respectfully and safely. We are making sure that no one is priced out of healthy and sustainable travel.' According to the council, there were 6.8 million trips made by rented e-bike in Wandsworth in the year to this May. A spokesman for Wandsworth borough council said: 'Our Access for All scheme is Britain's most generous concessionary scheme and breaks down barriers to make sure all residents have an equal chance to access local opportunities. 'This includes tens of thousands of low-income residents who receive benefits, children who receive free school meals, looked after children and care leavers, as well as asylum seekers and refugees.' However, Chris Philp, the Tory shadow home secretary, said: 'It is a slap in the face to hard-pressed taxpayers that are being forced by a Labour council to subsidise perks for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel who then claim asylum. 'At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet thanks to Labour's tax rises, this woke council is funnelling public money to illegal immigrants. It's an insult to every struggling family in the country. Labour has the wrong priorities.' It follows audits by Reform UK's anti-waste council team, which has revealed that asylum seekers were being taken trampolining, bowling, to the cinema and on shopping sprees, including to a store selling luxury hair extensions Auditors – styled on Elon Musk's department of government efficiency in the US – said the trips out, and other spending at JD Sports and PC World, cost taxpayers more than £24,000 between April 2022 and December. The claims were made about Kent county council as part of Reform UK's drive to inspect accounts at 10 local authorities of which it won control in May. Zia Yusuf, who is running Reform's Doge unit, said he was concerned some local authority bosses were treating taxpayers as 'their own personal piggy bank'.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Council offering asylum seekers 50% off e-bike and e-scooter rentals as Labour leader brags about 'win-win deal'
A London council is offering asylum seekers 50 per cent discounts on renting e-scooters and e-bikes. Wandsworth council's Labour leader Simon Hogg has described the new deal with private firms Lime, Forest and Voi as 'win-win'. The south-west London local authority has published new details about what it calls an 'Access For All' agreement aimed at making the cycles 'fair, safe and affordable'. Eligible residents are described as people in receipt of benefits, children in receipt of free school meals (all ages), asylum seekers/refugees, and children who are 'looked after' or care leavers. MailOnline has asked all involved how the discounts are being financed. This latest scheme comes amid recent revelations about how asylum seekers are using taxpayer handouts to fund their gambling habits. Pre-paid cards given out to pay for basics including food and clothing are being used in gambling venues such as bookmakers, amusement arcades and even casinos, Home Office data shows. In the last year, up to 6,537 asylum seekers have used the government-issued cards at least once for gambling. In the new announcement about its e-bike scheme, Wandsworth Council declared it was 'rolling ahead with its active travel ambitions by working with Lime, Forest and Voi to support e-bikes and e-scooters as a sustainable mode of travel'. In the 12 months from May 2024 to May 2025, there were 6.8million trips made by rented e-bike in Wandsworth. The authority said: 'We're backing that demand by making journeys safer and more accessible for everyone. Jenny Yates, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: 'E-bikes are here to stay as a key part of Wandsworth's transport network. 'We are committed to sustainable travel but it must be done responsibly, so we have worked with Lime, Forest and Voi to make sure e-bikes and scooters work for Wandsworth.' And council leader Mr Hogg, whose party won control of Wandsworth from the Conservatives in 2022, said: 'This deal is a win-win. 'It's about opening up affordable, sustainable travel that helps our residents to access work and entertainment opportunities across the borough. 'We're proud that Lime, Forest and Voi have agreed to join Access for All and to operate respectfully and safely. The new agreement has been announced in Wandsworth, a borough just south of the Thames 'We are making sure that no one is priced out of healthy and sustainable travel.' The scheme also offers discounts for eligible residents towards 'key services from gym sessions to swimming lessons, wedding ceremonies to event tickets'. The latest council announcement on its e-bike scheme also tells of having installed 170 dedicated on-street parking bays for e-bikes and scooters while also creating 'strict no-parking zones in town centres'. Wandsworth council added: 'We're planning further parking bays. The Lime and Voi e-scooters follow strict safety standards, including speed caps, always-on lights and licence checks for e-scooter riders.'
Evening Standard
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Evening Standard
'Excessive' Battersea riverside tower block plans rejected by councillors
Simon Hogg, leader of the council, commented: 'The committee is responsible for the scrutiny of applications and considers the merits of an application on paper as well as the voices of residents. The committee were unanimous about the harms of a 29-storey tower in this location, in breach of Wandsworth's Local Plan which sets out acceptable heights for the area.'
