Greater London Authority Bill

Greater London Authority Bill - continued	House of Commons
PART II, GENERAL FUNCTIONS AND PROCEDURE - continued
Meetings and procedure of the Assembly - continued

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Assembly procedure.	45. - (1) The Assembly may determine its own procedure and that of its committees (including quorum).
	(2) Subsection (1) above is subject to-
	(a) sections 42 to 44 above;
	(b) Schedules 5 and 6 to this Act; and
	(c) any other provision made by or under this Act or any other Act (whenever passed) which regulates, or provides for the regulation of, the procedure of the Assembly or committees of the Assembly.
Discharge of functions by committees or single members.	46. - (1) Subject to any express provision contained in this Act or any Act passed after this Act, the Assembly may arrange for any of the functions exercisable by it to be discharged on its behalf-
	(a) by a committee of the Assembly; or
	(b) by a single member of the Assembly.
	(2) Any arrangements made by the Assembly under this section for the discharge of functions by a committee or by a member of the Assembly shall not prevent the Assembly from exercising those functions.
	(3) Subsection (1)(b) above does not apply in relation to functions under or by virtue of section 20A of the Police Act 1996 (questions by Assembly members to representatives of the Metropolitan Police Authority).
Political composition of Assembly committees.	47. - (1) Sections 15 to 17 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (political balance on committees etc) shall have effect in relation to the Assembly, so far as relating to the appointment of members of its committees, as if the Assembly were a relevant authority and its committees were ordinary committees within the meaning of those provisions (and accordingly bodies to which section 15 of that Act applies).
	(2) In the case of any committee of the Assembly, the first appointment of members of the committee shall be an occasion on which the duty imposed by subsection (1) of section 15 of that Act arises in relation to the committee.
Openness.	48. - (1) Part VA of the Local Government Act 1972 (access to meetings and documents of certain authorities, committees and sub-committees) shall have effect as if the Assembly were a principal council, but with the following modifications.
	(2) In the application of Part VA of that Act by subsection (1) above-
	(a) any information furnished to the Authority and available to the Assembly shall be treated as information furnished to the Assembly;
	(b) any offices of, or belonging to, the Authority shall be treated as also being offices of or belonging to the Assembly; and
	(c) the proper officer of the Authority shall be taken to be the proper officer in relation to the Assembly.
	(3) For the purposes of section 100F of that Act (additional rights of access to documents for members of principal councils), any document which is in the possession or under the control of the Authority and which is available to the Assembly shall be treated as a document which is in the possession or under the control of the Assembly.
	(4) In the case of the Assembly, the register of members required to be maintained under section 100G(1) of that Act shall, instead of stating the ward or division which a member represents, state-
	(a) whether the member is a London member or a constituency member; and
	(b) if he is a constituency member, the Assembly constituency for which he is the member.
	(5) For the purposes of section 100H(3) of that Act (acts which infringe copyright), the Authority shall be treated as a principal council.
	(6) In the application in relation to the Assembly of Schedule 12A to that Act (access to information: exempt information) any reference to "the authority" includes a reference to the Authority.
	General functions of the Assembly
Review and investigation by the Assembly.	49. - (1) The Assembly shall keep under review the exercise by the Mayor of the statutory functions exercisable by him.
	(2) The power of the Assembly under subsection (1) includes in particular power to investigate, and prepare reports about-
	(a) any actions and decisions of the Mayor,
	(b) any actions and decisions of any member of staff of the Authority,
	(c) matters in relation to which statutory functions are exercisable by the Mayor, or
	(d) any other matters which the Assembly considers to be of importance to Greater London.
Proposals by the Assembly to the Mayor.	50. - (1) Where the Assembly resolves by a majority of Assembly members present and voting to do so, the Assembly may submit a proposal to the Mayor.
	(2) Section 46 above shall not apply in relation to the function of the Assembly under subsection (1) above.
	Attendance of witnesses and production of documents
Power to require attendance at Assembly meetings.	51. - (1) Subject to section 53 below, the Assembly may require any person to whom subsection (2), (3), (4) or (5) below applies-
	(a) to attend proceedings of the Assembly for the purpose of giving evidence, or
	(b) to produce to the Assembly documents in his possession or under his control.
	(2) This subsection applies to-
	(a) any person who is a member of staff of the Authority, or of any functional body, to whom sections 1 to 3 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 apply, and
	(b) any person who is the chairman of, or a member of, any functional body.
	(3) This subsection applies to-
	(a) any person who has within the three years prior to the date of the requirement to be imposed under subsection (1) above had a contractual relationship with the Authority, and
	(b) any person who is a member of, or a member of staff of, a body which has within the three years prior to the date of the requirement to be imposed under subsection (1) above had such a relationship.
	(4) This subsection applies to-
	(a) any person who has within the three years prior to the date of the requirement to be imposed under subsection (1) above received a grant from the Authority, and
	(b) any person who is a member of, or a member of staff of, a body which has within the three years prior to the date of the requirement to be imposed under subsection (1) received such a grant.
	(5) This subsection applies to-
	(a) any person who is an Assembly member,
	(b) any person who has within the three years prior to the date of the requirement to be imposed under subsection (1) above been an Assembly member, and
	(c) any person who has within the three years prior to the date of the requirement to be imposed under subsection (1) above been the Mayor.
	(6) A requirement imposed under subsection (1) above on a person falling within subsection (2) above-
	(a) if imposed under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above, is to attend to give evidence in connection with matters in relation to which statutory functions are exercisable by the Authority or any functional body, and
	(b) if imposed under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above, is to produce documents which relate to those matters.
	(7) A requirement imposed under subsection (1) above on a person falling within subsection (3) above-
	(a) if imposed under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above, is to attend to give evidence in connection with the contractual relationship with the Authority, and
	(b) if imposed under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above, is to produce documents which relate to that contractual relationship.
	(8) A requirement imposed under subsection (1) above on a person falling within subsection (4) above-
	(a) if imposed under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above, is to attend to give evidence in connection with the grant received from the Authority, and
	(b) if imposed under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above, is to produce documents which relate to that grant.
	(9) A requirement imposed under subsection (1) above on a person falling within subsection (5) above-
	(a) if imposed under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above, is to attend to give evidence in connection with the exercise by the person attending of the functions of the Authority, and
	(b) if imposed under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above, is to produce documents which relate to the exercise of those functions by that person.
	(10) Nothing in this section shall require a person appointed under section 56(1) or (2) below to-
	(a) give any evidence, or
	(b) produce any documents,
	which relate to advice given by that person to the Mayor.
	(11) For the purposes of this section and sections 52, 53 and 54 below-
	(a) "document" means anything in which information is recorded in any form (and references to producing a document are to the production of the information in it in a visible and legible form, including the production of a copy of the document or an extract of the relevant part of the document), and
	(b) any reference to a member of staff of a body includes a reference to an officer or employee of that body.
Procedure for requiring attendance.	52. - (1) The powers of the Assembly under section 51(1) above may be exercised by and for the purposes of-
	(a) any committee of the Assembly, or
	(b) any sub-committee of such a committee,
	if the committee or sub-committee is expressly authorised to exercise those powers by the standing orders or by a simple majority of those present and voting at a meeting of the whole Assembly, but may not be exercised by any individual Assembly member or by any member of staff of the Authority.
	(2) In order to impose a requirement on a person under section 51(1) above the Chief Administrative Officer of the Authority must give him notice specifying-
	(a) the time and place at which he is to attend and the matters about which he is to be required to give evidence, or
	(b) the documents, or types of documents, which he is to produce, the date by which he is to produce them and the matters to which the document or documents relate.
	(3) Where a requirement under section 51(1) above is imposed on a person to attend proceedings or produce documents on behalf of a body, the notice required to be given to him under subsection (2) above must also specify that body.
	(4) A notice required by subsection (2) above to be given to a person must be given at least two weeks before the day on which the proceedings are to take place, or by which the documents are to be produced, unless he waives this right.
	(5) A notice required by subsection (2) above to be given to a person shall be taken to have been given to him if it is sent by registered post or the recorded delivery service and-
	(a) if he is a member of staff of the Authority or the chairman of, a member of, or a member of staff of a functional body, it is sent to his normal place of work,
	(b) if he is a person required to attend proceedings or produce documents on behalf of a body, it is sent to the registered or principal office of the body,
	(c) if he is any other individual, it is sent to his usual or last known address, or
	(d) in the case of any person, where that person has given an address for service of the notice, it is sent to that address.
Restriction of information.	53. The Secretary of State may by order-
	(a) prescribe categories of information which a person who is required under subsection (1)(a) of section 51 above to attend proceedings of the Assembly may refuse to give, or
	(b) prescribe categories of documents which a person who is required under subsection (1)(b) of that section to produce documents may refuse to produce.

Prepared 3 December 1998