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These notes refer to the Greater London Authority Bill [Bill 7] as introduced in the House of Commons on 2nd December 1998
GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY BILL________________
EXPLANATORY NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1. These explanatory notes relate to the Greater London Authority Bill as introduced in the House of Commons on 2 December 1998. They have been prepared by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions in order to assist the reader of the Bill and to help inform debate on it. They do not form part of the Bill and have not been endorsed by Parliament.
2. The notes need to be read in conjunction with the Bill. They are not, and are not meant to be, a comprehensive description of the Bill. So where a clause or part of a clause does not seem to require any explanation or comment, none is given.
SUMMARY
3. The Bill establishes the Greater London Authority (GLA), and provides for elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. It establishes the financial arrangements for the Authority and sets out terms and conditions for the Mayor and the members of the Assembly.
4. The Bill defines the Mayor's and Assembly's powers and functions. It establishes Transport for London. It amends Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 as respects the London Development Agency. It establishes the Metropolitan Police Authority, and it reconstitutes the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. In the Bill, these new bodies and authorities are referred to as 'functional bodies'. The Bill also defines the GLA's planning, environmental and cultural responsibilities.
5. In the Bill, 'Greater London' means the London Boroughs, the City of London, and the Inner and the Middle Temple, in accordance with section 2 (1) of the London Government Act 1963.
BACKGROUND
6. The aim of the Bill is to give effect to the Government's policy on the governance of London, the principal features of which were set out in the White Paper A Mayor and Assembly for London (Cm 3897). This was published in March 1998 in connection with the referendum held in Greater London on 7 May 1998. A majority of those voting in the referendum answered 'Yes' to the question 'Do you agree with the Government's proposals for a Mayor and Assembly for London?' The Greater London Authority
7. The GLA will consist of a directly elected Mayor and separately elected Assembly, each elected for a term of four years. The GLA will have the general purpose of promoting economic and social development and the improvement of the environment of Greater London, including having regard to the promotion of sustainable development, facilitating the creation of wealth and promoting improvements in health. It will have specific powers and duties in relation to transport, economic development, planning, police, fire and emergency planning, environment and culture. The GLA will take over responsibilities from some existing pan-London bodies - the London Ecology Committee, London Research Council and London Planning Advisory Committee.
The Mayor of London
8. The GLA will have a directly elected Mayor, known as the Mayor of London.
9. The Mayor will be responsible for developing the GLA's strategies for transport, planning and the environment in London and will have a range of powers to implement them. He or she will also approve strategies for economic development and culture. The Mayor will be required to ensure that these strategies take each other into account. The Mayor will be responsible for setting a budget for the GLA and its four functional bodies, and he or she will make a number of appointments to the boards of the four functional bodies and other London organisations.
10. In preparing strategies and before exercising any of his or her powers, the Mayor will be required to consult as appropriate, including with organisations representing business.
The London Assembly
11. The Assembly is the forum in which the Mayor's proposals will be examined and the Mayor's decisions and actions will be reviewed.
12. The Mayor will have a duty to consult the Assembly, functional bodies and London local authorities during the preparation of each of the GLA strategies. The Assembly will consider the budget for the GLA and the four functional bodies, and will be able to overrule either all or part of the Mayor's proposals by a two-thirds majority. The Assembly will scrutinise the exercise of the Mayor's functions and conduct investigations into London issues. Public Accountability
13. The Mayor and Assembly will be accountable to Londoners. The Mayor will hold an annual, public, State of London debate and will attend a monthly question time to allow Assembly members to enquire into actions and policies. The Mayor and Assembly together will hold a twice yearly public meeting called a "People's Question Time". Elections to the GLA
14. If there are three or more candidates, the Mayor will be elected under the Supplementary Vote System which gives voters the opportunity to express a first and second preference in respect of the candidates for election. (If there are less than three candidates, the 'first past the post' voting system will be applied.)
15. Assembly members will be elected by the Additional Member System. There will be twenty-five Assembly members; fourteen will be elected by constituencies and eleven will be elected on a London-wide basis. The fourteen constituencies will be established by order under the Bill after the Secretary of State has considered recommendations made by the Local Government Commission under Part II of the Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998, which were published on 30 November 1998, following a London-wide consultation exercise. GLA Financial Systems
16. The GLA and the four functional bodies will be subject to the local government finance regime. The GLA will set a budget for itself and each of the four functional bodies. These budgets will together form the consolidated budget.
17. The GLA will receive central government and council tax funding and distribute it to the functional bodies in line with their budgets. The GLA will inherit existing spending. The new Mayor and Assembly and their staff will be funded through government grant, and by council taxpayers.
18. Capital finance controls will apply to the GLA and each of the functional bodies independently. The Mayor will have influence over capital spending priorities through preparing a capital spending plan.
19. The GLA and each of the four functional bodies will be responsible for administration of their own financial affairs, and for preparing their own accounts. The GLA and the four functional bodies will follow the local authority accounting framework and be subject to audit by auditors appointed by the Audit Commission. Functions of the GLA
Transport
20. The Mayor will have a duty to produce an integrated transport strategy for London. This strategy will be prepared within the context of the national integrated transport policy as expressed in the Government White Paper A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone (Cm 3950) which was published in July 1998. The Bill also provides the Mayor and the London borough councils with enabling powers which would allow them to introduce road user charging and a levy on workplace parking in the context of the Mayor's integrated transport strategy.
21. The Bill gives a power for the Secretary of State, by regulation, to make provisions in connection with a Public-Private Partnership ("PPP") for the London Underground, as announced in Parliament by the Deputy Prime Minister on 20 March 1998 (Hansard 308, col 1539).
22. The Bill unifies responsibility for transport in London by establishing a single body, Transport for London, which will replace London Transport and take over the functions of other transport bodies. TfL will be directly accountable to the Mayor and will be responsible for implementing his transport strategy.
23. TfL will be chaired by either the Mayor, or a chairman appointed by the Mayor, and will have a wide range of executive responsibilities. The current powers of London Regional Transport will be divided between the Mayor and TfL, with certain key powers resting with the Mayor and operational powers resting with TfL. TfL will be responsible for road maintenance and traffic management on the Greater London Road Network, which will comprise important London roads. The Mayor and TfL will also have powers to regulate taxis and minicabs and promote river services. The Mayor will have extensive powers of direction over all TfL activities.
Economic Development
24. The Bill provides in relation to the London Development Agency ("LDA"), as established in the Regional Development Agency Act 1998, for the Mayor to exercise most of the functions exercised by the Secretary of State in respect of other Regional Development Agencies. The LDA will be responsible for economic development and regeneration and will promote competitiveness and employment in London.
25. The Mayor will be responsible for London's economic development strategy. It will be prepared by the LDA under the Mayor's guidance, and agreed or amended by the Mayor before publication. The LDA will be responsible for implementing this strategy.
Police
26. The Bill establishes a new Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) for London, which will be similar in structure and function to other police authorities in England and Wales. The majority of the MPA's membership (12 out of 23 members, one of whom will be Deputy Mayor) will be drawn from the Assembly members. The others will be magistrates and independent members.
27. The Bill amends the boundaries of the Metropolitan Police District (MPD) so as to bring them into line with the Greater London area (except that the City of London will continue to be policed separately). Those parts of the current MPD which lie in Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey will be policed by the forces of those counties.
Fire and Emergency Planning
28. The Bill reconstitutes the existing London Fire and Civil Defence Authority as the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). The majority of the LFEPA's membership (nine out of seventeen) will be drawn from the Assembly, and will be appointed by the Mayor. The other eight will be members of the London borough councils. The LFEPA will be responsible for providing efficient and effective fire brigade and emergency planning services in the capital.
Planning
29. The Mayor will be responsible for producing a Spatial Development Strategy for London. This will be linked to the Mayor's other strategies, and will set out an overall land use strategy for London and consider its economic, environmental and social implications. Borough unitary development plans must be in general conformity with the Mayor's strategy. London borough councils will remain the development control authorities for their areas, but the Mayor will be consulted and, if necessary, will be able to intervene in the decision making process, by directing the London borough councils to refuse planning consent where issues of strategic importance are concerned.
Environment
30. The Mayor will be responsible for assessing and reporting on the state of London's environment. The Mayor will prepare and publish strategies on air quality and waste, and have powers of direction to ensure they are delivered. He or she will inherit some of the Secretary of State's other responsibilities in respect of local authority Waste Recycling Plans and Air Quality Management Plans. The Mayor will prepare an action plan on biodiversity and an ambient noise strategy for London.
Culture
31. The Bill gives the Mayor some responsibilities in respect of cultural issues in London and establishes the Cultural Strategy Group for London. The Cultural Strategy Group will be requested to produce a culture, media and sports strategy for the Mayor who can amend it if he or she wishes before publication. This strategy will cover London's built heritage, museums, library services, the arts, broadcasting, tourism and sporting issues in London.
THE BILL
32. The Greater London Authority Bill consists of twelve parts. These are:
COMMENTARY ON CLAUSESPART I: THE GREATER LONDON AUTHORITYClause 1: The Authority and Clause 2: Membership 33. Clauses 1 and 2 and Schedule 1 provide for the establishment of the GLA. The GLA will be made up of a directly elected Mayor and a separately elected Assembly of twenty five members. The Mayor and Assembly together will have a corporate legal identity as the Authority.
34. The Assembly will be elected under the additional member system. Fourteen Assembly members will represent constituencies, each made up of two or three complete London boroughs. The Secretary of State will decide the boundaries and names of these constituencies, on the basis of recommendations made by the Local Government Commission for England (the 'LGC'). Eleven Assembly members (known as "London members") will be elected under the additional member system for the whole of Greater London.
35. The election of the Authority as a whole will take place once every four years (the "ordinary election"). There will be an election for the Mayor and one for the London members plus elections in each constituency for the constituency member. The term of office of those elected at an ordinary election will run from the second day after the last declaration to the second day following the last declaration at the next ordinary election.
36. Schedule 1 contains provisions on the Assembly constituencies. In May 1998, using powers contained in the GLA (Referendum) Act 1998, the Secretary of State directed the LGC to produce recommendations for the boundaries of the Assembly constituencies. The LGC submitted its recommendations on 30 November 1998. Clause 2(4) empowers the Secretary of State to implement these recommendations by order.
37. Schedule 1 also contains provisions to allow for future reviews of the constituency boundaries. Detailed ground rules state that there should always be fourteen constituencies, composed of combinations of two or more contiguous whole London Boroughs, and that the number of electors in each constituency should be as similar to each other as is reasonably practicable.
38. The Schedule also lays down a basic structure for future reviews of the Assembly constituencies. The cornerstone of this is that reviews of the constituencies will always be at the discretion of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State will commission the LGC to carry out a review, and may produce guidance that the LGC will have to take into account; the LGC will carry out its review, and produce recommendations. The Secretary of State will have powers to implement these recommendations.
39. The Schedule provides for two different scenarios in which a review of the constituencies might occur.
40. There are three possible outcomes here:
41. Clause 3 contains provisions on ordinary elections to the Authority. The power in this clause to provide by order for the year in which the second and third authority elections are to take place reflects the fact that the date of the first election is to be appointed by order. This gives the opportunity for the timing of the second and third elections to fit in conveniently with the normal programme of local government elections. The fourth and subsequent elections will be held every four years.
42. Clause 4 contains provisions on voting at ordinary elections. The ordinary election for the Authority will consist of a mayoral election, the election of Assembly members in each of the fourteen constituencies and the election of the London members.
43. In the mayoral election, if there are only two candidates, the one with the most votes wins under first-past-the-post procedures. But if there are three or more candidates, a different voting system - the Supplementary Vote (SV) system - comes into play. Voters will be able to indicate their first and second choice for Mayor. How these choices are counted, in order to determine who should be returned as Mayor, is set out in Part I of Schedule 2 to the Bill.
44. Candidates for the Assembly will be elected under the Additional Member System (AMS). Voters will have two votes - one for a constituency member and one - known as a London vote - for an individual or political party list. Each of the 14 constituencies will return one constituency candidate elected on the normal first-past-the-post basis. Eleven additional seats in the Assembly will be allocated on the basis of the London vote using the De Hondt formula. This is intended to top up the number of seats for each party in the Assembly in order to reflect broadly their proportion of the London vote. The precise way in which this is done is set out in Part II of Schedule 2 of the Bill.
45. The way in which the elections of the Mayor and Assembly members interact is the subject of subsections (7) to (10) of the clause. The result of the elections of the Mayor and the constituency members must be determined first, so that the calculation (set out in Part II of Schedule 2) resulting from the count of the London vote can be made under clause 2; this calculation is not to be held up if one of the constituency polls has been countermanded. No-one may stand in more than one Assembly constituency and if the person returned as Mayor is also successful in a constituency election, a by-election will ensue in that constituency (but the seat will be counted as having been won by the relevant party for the purposes of the London vote - see paragraph 6(4) of Schedule 2). More detailed provision for the inter-action of the various polls is contained in Schedule 2 to the Bill.
46. Schedule 2 contains detailed provisions on voting at elections for the Mayor and the London members of the Assembly. The Mayoral Poll 47. Whenever there are three or more candidates to be Mayor, each voter indicates on the ballot paper their first and second choices for Mayor. When the votes are counted any candidate with more than half the first preference votes wins outright. However if no candidate wins an overall majority then second preference votes are taken into consideration. The two candidates with the most votes remain in the contest (and there is provision for any tie for second place). The second preference votes on the ballot papers of the eliminated candidates are then examined and any second preference votes for the remaining candidates are allocated to them. The candidate who then has the most votes is returned as Mayor.
Voting for the Assembly 48. The Assembly seats deriving from the London vote will be allocated according to the De Hondt formula, a commonly-used way of allocating seats under proportional representation. When allocating seats in the Assembly on the basis of the London vote, the Greater London Returning Officer (defined in clause 24) considers the party affiliation of the constituency candidates who have been returned as members of the Assembly and the number of London votes cast for that party. He then divides the party's total London vote by the number of seats that party has won plus one (one is added to avoid dividing by zero where no seat has been won). The result is known as the party's London figure. Independent candidates are given a London figure equal to their London vote.
49. The first seat is then allocated to the party or individual with the highest London figure. When a seat is allocated to a party, its London figure is recalculated on the basis of the new total number of seats plus one. The next seat is then allocated on the basis of the highest London figure at that stage, after which the winning party's London figure is similarly recalculated, until all 11 seats have been allocated. Should two parties tie for the last seat, their figures are recalculated as though each party had one more seat and the one whose London figure is the highest gets the seat. If the tie continues the matter is to be settled by lot. Provision to set a minimum threshold for elections to the Assembly is included in Schedule 2. In order to win a London member seat, a party or candidate would need to attain a certain percentage of the vote. If the Secretary of State decided that a threshold was needed it would be set by order, but could not exceed 5%.
50. A worked example is set out below:
51. In this worked example, the fourteen Assembly constituency seats are shared between parties A, B, and C as follows:
Party A: 6 seats Party B: 5 seats Party C: 3 seats
52. The eleven London-wide seats are contested by the three parties and by one independent candidate. The votes cast are as follows:
Party A: 1,857,000 votes Party B: 1,500,000 votes Party C: 900,000 votes Independent: 230,000 votes
Total Votes Cast: 4,487,000
53. The eleven London-wide seats are then distributed on the basis of these figures as follows:
Guideline for the calculation of London-wide seats:
1. In line with the De Hondt Formula (see above), 1 seat is added to each party's constituency seat total. 2. The London-wide vote for that party or individual is divided by this number (i.e. by the number of Constituency seats, plus 1). 3. The party or individual with the largest number wins a seat. (Party A in the example wins the first seat). 4. The winner's seat total is increased by one, and the calculation is repeated. 5. This time, Party B has the largest number and wins the seat. 6. This process continues until all 11 seats are allocated. ILLUSTRATION Allocation of London-wide seats.
Clauses 5 to 11: Vacancies in the Assembly 54. Clauses 5 to 11 make provision for vacancies in Assembly membership and are based on the provisions in Part V of the Local Government Act 1972 for vacancies in the membership of local authorities.
55. A vacancy arises where
(a) a member resigns;
(b) a member fails for six consecutive months to attend a meeting of the Assembly, of one of its committees or sub-committees or of an outside body as an Assembly representative (unless for a reason approved by the Assembly);
(c) a member whose only qualification for election was the fact that he was a local government elector for Greater London ceases to be such an elector (see further clause 19);
(d) a member becomes disqualified for any of the reasons set out in clause 20;
(e) a person returned as an Assembly member at an ordinary election is also returned as the Mayor; or
(f) a member is returned as the Mayor at an election to fill a vacancy in that office.
56. A vacancy arising otherwise than on account of death, resignation or automatic disqualification has to be declared by an officer of the Authority charged with that function or by the High Court under clause 22. A vacancy in an Assembly constituency is filled at an election held in the constituency on the first past the post basis. The election must be held no later than 35 days after the date on which the vacancy is to regarded as occurring in accordance with clause 9 (but Sundays and holidays are left out of account).
57. If a vacancy occurs within six months prior to the date of an ordinary election, no election will be held; instead it will be left unfilled until the next ordinary election of the whole Assembly. However, if the occurrence of a vacancy means that the total number of vacancies exceeds one-third of the total membership of the Assembly, then an election to fill that vacancy must take place.
58. Where a vacancy arises among the London members, it will remain unfilled until the next ordinary election unless the vacancy is of a London member elected from a party list and there are persons on the list who can be chosen by the Greater London returning officer to fill the vacancy.
59. To be eligible to fill such a vacancy, a person on a list must be willing to serve. In addition, if a person on the list is no longer a member of the party concerned, the party may notify the returning officer that he or she is not to fill the vacancy.
60. If there is more than one person who satisfies the conditions set out above, then the highest placed of these persons on the list will be returned.
61. The term of office of the persons elected or chosen to fill vacancies will end at the next ordinary election. Clauses 12 to 16: Vacancy in the office of the Mayor 62. Clauses 12 to 16 deal with vacancies in the office of Mayor and are broadly similar to the provisions for vacancies in Assembly membership. In the case of the Mayor, however, the provision for disqualification on account of a failure to attend meetings relates to a failure on six consecutive occasions to attend the monthly meetings of the Assembly held under clause 44(2).
63. A mayoral vacancy is filled by an election held on the same basis as an ordinary election unless it occurs in the six months preceding the next ordinary election. In that case the office of Mayor is to be left unfilled and the deputy Mayor will act as Mayor until the next ordinary election. Clause 17: Franchise, conduct of elections etc. 64. Clause 17 and Schedule 3 make detailed provision for Authority elections by amending the Representation of the People Act 1983, which makes provision for the conduct of parliamentary and local government elections. Section references in the following description of Schedule 3 are to that Act.
65. Schedule 3 to the Bill amends section 203 to make Authority elections local government elections for the purposes of that Act. The result is that the normal provisions applying to local government elections in respect of the entitlement to vote, registration, conduct of election, voting offences, the campaign, questioning a result and corrupt and illegal practices will apply in respect of Authority elections. However, in certain instances, Schedule 3 changes the Representation of the People Act to reflect the Authority's different electoral systems and such changes are noted below where they occur.
66. Paragraph 2 enables polling districts for Authority elections to be prescribed by London borough councils and the Common Council (section 31) and paragraph 3 makes provision for the returning officers at constituency elections to be designated by the Secretary of State and for the returning officer for the other Authority elections to be an officer appointed by the Authority (section 35). (For example, Rule 50 of the Parliamentary election rules requires the returning officer to declare elected the candidate for whom the majority of votes has been given. This simple rule does not cover the counting of second preference votes in the mayoral election nor the calculation described in paragraph 53 of this note, necessary as part of the Assembly election.
67. Paragraph 4 enables rules for Authority elections to be prescribed (section 36). The paragraph specifies that these rules need not apply the parliamentary election rules, as normal local government election rules do under section 36(2), because the Authority's different electoral systems will call for different rules.
68. Paragraph 5 extends the Secretary of State's power to move the ordinary day for local elections in any year (section 37) so that Authority elections may be on a day other than the first Thursday in May, while paragraphs 6 and 7 make consequential and technical amendments to sections 39 and 40.
69. Paragraph 8 disapplies section 46 (which prescribes the number of votes each elector may give) as the number of votes of each elector at Authority elections is dealt with at clauses 4, 10 and 16.
70. Paragraph 9 provides for the returning officers' costs (section 48) and paragraph 10 adds provisions appropriate to the Authority elections to the voting offences in section 61.
71. Paragraph 11 adds the Authority to section 82 (dealing with election expenses) and similarly paragraph 12 adds Authority members to section 159 (which deals with candidates reported guilty of a corrupt or illegal practice).
72. Paragraphs 13 and 14 add a number of definitions to sections 202 and 203 (interpretation) in consequence of other amendments to the Act. Clause 18: Cost of holding the first ordinary elections 73. Clause 18 provides for the reasonable expenditure of returning officers in relation to the holding of the first election of the Authority to be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund. The Secretary of State may, with Treasury consent, determine the kind of expenditure recoverable and its maximum amount. Clauses 19 to 22: Qualifications and disqualifications 74. Clauses 19 to 21 make provision in respect of qualification and disqualification for being elected and holding the office of Mayor or Assembly member and are based on the provisions of Part V of the Local Government Act 1972 which apply to local authority membership. They apply to the selection of a person to fill a vacancy among London members in the same way as to an election.
75. In addition to the nationality and age conditions set out in clause 19, a person must at the time of nomination and election also satisfy at least one of the conditions set out there which establish a connection with Greater London, namely, registration as a local government elector for Greater London or, during the previous 12 months, holding property, working or residing within Greater London. If a person elected as Mayor or an Assembly member only satisfied the condition of being a local elector for Greater London and, at any time, ceases to be registered as such an elector he ceases to be qualified to hold office and a vacancy will occur.
76. A person is disqualified from being elected or being the Mayor or an Assembly member if he or she:
77. The provision allowing the Secretary of State to designate offices or appointments which disqualify a person for being Mayor or an Assembly member does not apply to local authorities but is similar to provisions made in respect of the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament. It might be used, for example, to designate certain public appointments, the holders of which would be disqualified from standing for Mayor or for the Assembly. An example of this would be the Chairman of a Housing Corporation.
78. Clause 22 provides that section 92 of the Local Government Act 1972 (proceedings for disqualification) will apply in relation to the Authority, as it applies in relation to a local authority.
79. This will allow any registered local government elector for Greater London to instigate legal proceedings against any person on the grounds that he acted, or claimed to be entitled to act, as Mayor or as an Assembly member, while in fact being disqualified from acting under clause 20 or for failing to meet the qualification criteria set out in clause 19 or to make a declaration under clause 23, or for having ceased to be Mayor or an Assembly member through resignation or a failure to attend meetings.
80. Proceedings may be brought in the High Court or a magistrates' court but must be brought in the High Court if the person against whom they are brought claims to have been entitled to act. Proceedings may not be brought in respect of an act that took place more than six months before the bringing of the proceedings.
81. Where it is proved that a person acted while not qualified or disqualified, the High Court has power to declare a vacancy in his office and order forfeiture of monetary sums while a magistrates' court has power only to impose a fine. Where proceedings are instituted in a magistrates' court, that court has power to refer them to the High Court and they must be referred if the High Court so orders at the defendant's request. Clause 23: Declaration of acceptance of office 82. Clause 23 makes provisions about this. Any person elected as Mayor or an Assembly member must make a declaration of acceptance of office in order to be allowed to act in that office. The declaration must be delivered to the proper officer of the Authority within two months of the date of the election, or else a vacancy will be declared.
83. Clause 3(1) enables the Secretary of State to set the date of the first elections for the Mayor and Assembly by order. The Secretary of State may also use this order to make provision specifying how, after the first elections, declarations of acceptance of office are to be made and delivered. The order may for example appoint an officer to receive these first declarations.
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