£171,000 taxpayer cash spent on “vanity project” app that just 0.3% of Southwark population use

An FOI has revealed that the council has spent £171,000 to date on the Betterpoints app, branded a “vanity project” by the Liberal Democrats. 

The Betterpoints App – which is supposed to encourage users to walk, cycle, and use public transport by awarding points for activities was initially announced in 2023, and fully launched a year ago. The FOI also found that the number of active users is just 1,300, or 0.3% of the total population of Southwark, and has awarded just £1.60 a month on average to active users.  

Almost £120,000 of the spend was on the design, procurement, promotion and day-to-day management of the app.  

The Liberal Democrats say that though residents should be encouraged to use more sustainable and healthy transport options, that should be done by investing in infrastructure rather than wasting money on an app that very few people use, and only a fraction of the spend actually translates into rewards for users. 

Commenting Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Victor Chamberlain said:  

“Once again we’re seeing the true meaning of what our Labour council mean when they say they’ll spend taxpayers' money like it’s their own: it just means waste upon waste. In a cost of living crisis, waste of public money is even more insulting. 

£171,000 could have paid for any number of projects to support sustainable transport – including subsidising cycle storage fees or fixing broken paving slabs. Instead this Labour council seems intent on spending taxpayers hard earned cash on white-elephant vanity projects that don’t actually improve public space. 

Liberal Democrats would sweep all of this waste away, and invest in infrastructure so it’s actually easier for people to get around our borough in more sustainable, healthier ways.”