PART II: GENERAL FUNCTIONS AND PROCEDURE

Clauses 25 to 28: The purpose and general powers of the Authority

84.     Clause 25 of the Bill defines the GLA's general purpose as promoting the economic and social development of London and the improvement of its environment.

85.     A person or body exercising any of the powers of the Authority may only do so for this purpose. They are required in particular to take into account certain specified matters. They will have to have regard to the desirability of ensuring a reasonable balance between the pursuit of each of the elements of the general purpose: promoting sustainable development; facilitating the creation of wealth; and promoting the health of Londoners. They will also have to have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State under Clause 26 concerning the application of the Authority's general purpose.

86.     To protect other authorities or bodies, organisations or individuals whose interests might be affected by the exercise of any of its powers, the Bill requires bodies or persons exercising the Authority's powers to carry out consultations about their proposals - including with representatives of the business community.

87.     Clause 27 defines the general power of the Authority, which is to be exercisable by the Mayor. The Mayor will have power to do anything that he or she thinks will further the Authority's purpose. However, this general power is subject to certain limitations. The Mayor will not be able to do anything using this power which would duplicate the statutory functions of Transport for London or the Police and Fire Authorities, and he must seek to secure that he does not duplicate the activities of the London Development Agency. The Mayor will also be unable to duplicate the statutory functions of local authorities or of other public bodies, in particular the London borough councils and the London Health Authorities. Subsection (5) specifies the functions of these bodies that cannot directly be undertaken by the GLA - including the provision of housing or education services, social services or health services. Subsection (10) gives the Secretary of State a power to add further functions, and functions of further public bodies, to this list. Subsection (11) contains a reserve power to impose limits on the expenditure that can be incurred using the general power.

88.     The Mayor will however be able to use the power in clause 27 to co-operate with other public authorities or bodies, or to co-ordinate or facilitate the activities of such authorities or bodies on a London-wide or a wider than local basis. This might include, with the agreement of such authorities or bodies, providing a related specialist service which would be of benefit to London as a whole.

89.     Clause 28 adds to the power in clause 27 by providing for the Authority to be able to do anything which is incidental to the exercise of its functions, including its functions under clause 27.

Clauses 29 and 30: Exercise of functions: general principles

90.     Clauses 29 and 30 provide the general principles for the exercise of the Authority's functions. Clause 29 provides for functions to be exercisable by the Mayor, by the Assembly or by the Mayor and the Assembly together.

91.     Clause 30 and Schedule 4 provide for the discharge of the Mayor's functions by the Deputy Mayor when there is a vacancy in the office of Mayor or the Mayor is temporarily unable to act. (The Deputy Mayor is appointed by the Mayor from among the members of the Assembly as set out in Clause 41.) However, there are certain functions of the Mayor which the Deputy Mayor cannot exercise. These functions are set out in paragraphs 4 and 10 of Schedule 4: the preparation of a consolidated budget for the Authority and the functional bodies; the preparation, alteration or replacement of any of the Mayor's strategies; and appointments to the functional bodies.

Clauses 31 and 32: Functions exercisable by the Mayor

92.     Clause 31 provides for the delegation of functions exercisable by the Mayor. The majority of the functions of the Authority will be exercisable by the Mayor, who will be able to delegate those functions to any of the bodies or people specified in this clause including the Deputy Mayor, Transport for London and the London Development Agency. Clause 32 extends the provisions of Part II of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 so as to apply them to the GLA. This means that a Minister may make an order providing for the contracting out of any of the functions of the GLA which are exercisable by the Mayor.

Clauses 33 to 36: The Mayor's strategies

93.     The Bill requires the Mayor to produce a number of strategies, including strategies in relation to transport (clause 123); economic development and regeneration (clause 204); biodiversity (clause 243); municipal waste management (clause 244); air quality (clause 250); ambient noise (clause 258); and culture (clause 262).

94.     Clauses 33 to 36 set out the duties associated with those strategies and the procedures to be followed in preparing them.

95.     Clause 33 sets out the strategies to which the general duties of the Mayor apply, the duty of the Mayor to review and revise the strategies, and the matters to which the Mayor must have regard in preparing, revising or implementing those strategies. In preparing, reviewing or amending the strategies, the Mayor must have regard to the need to ensure that each of the strategies is consistent with national policy and international obligations, and with his or her other strategies. The Mayor must also have regard to the resources available to implement each strategy, the desirability of promoting the improvement of the health of Londoners and the desirability of promoting and encouraging the use of the River Thames - in particular for passenger transport and freight transportation.

96.     Clause 34 places a duty on the Mayor to carry out consultations in preparing or revising his or her strategies. The Mayor must consult, in the first instance, the Assembly and the functional bodies, and subsequently each London borough council and the Common Council, and any other organisation or individual the Mayor considers it appropriate to consult because their interests may be affected. Subsection (4) exempts the Mayor from the duty to consult as to a proposed revision of strategies where he or she considers those revisions do not materially alter the strategy: it will be for the Mayor to decide whether or not revisions to the strategies materially alter those strategies and therefore whether or not consultation about those revisions are necessary.

97.     Clause 35 requires the Mayor to ensure adequate publicity is given to his or her strategies, to make them available for public inspection, and to provide them at a reasonable cost to members of the public who ask for them.

98.     Clause 36 provides for directions by the Secretary of State as respects the preparation and publication of the first strategies. Should the Secretary of State consider that the Mayor who is first elected is failing to take the necessary steps to prepare the strategies he or she is required by the Bill to prepare, the Secretary of State will have a reserve power to direct the Mayor to prepare and publish the strategies within a specified period of time.

Clauses 37 to 40: Public accountability

99.     Clauses 37 to 40 contain provisions on the Mayor's accountability. Clause 37 provides that the Mayor will make a monthly report to the Assembly setting out significant decisions he or she has taken, with reasons, and responses to any formal proposals the Assembly has put to him or her. The Mayor will attend monthly meetings of the Assembly and answer Assembly members' questions about his or her responsibilities. In answering Assembly questions, the Mayor will not be required to disclose advice from GLA staff. Similarly, GLA staff will not be required to disclose advice to the Mayor under Clause 51 (the Assembly's power to summon and require evidence and documents). Clause 48, which applies to the Assembly provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 as to public access to meetings and documents, has the effect of ensuring that the Mayor's reports will be available to the public, and the meetings at which he answers questions will be open to the public, subject to the general exceptions for confidentiality.

100.     Clause 38 provides that the Mayor will prepare an Annual Report. The Annual Report will assess the Mayor's progress on implementing strategies, and include information about the performance of the Authority's statutory functions which the GLA is obliged to publish under any legislation. The Mayor will also include in the report information which the Assembly has asked to be included before the beginning of the year covered by the report. The Mayor will send the report to the Assembly before publishing it.

101.     Clause 39(2) requires that the annual State of London debate is to be held in April, May or June but must not be held until at least 7 days after the publication of the Annual Report. The effect of this provision is to require the Annual Report to be published at least 7 days before the end of June in the financial year after that to which the Report relates.

102.     Clause 39 provides that the Mayor will hold and attend an annual public "State of London" debate. The debate will take place in April, May or June, at least 7 days after the Annual Report is published. Clause 40 provides that the Mayor and Assembly will hold twice-yearly "People's Question Times".

Clause 41: The Deputy Mayor

103.     Clause 41 contains provision for the Deputy Mayor. The Mayor will be required to appoint a Deputy Mayor from amongst the Assembly members, and will be required to appoint the Deputy Mayor as a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority. The Mayor will be able to delegate his or her functions to the Deputy Mayor (see note on clause 31(2)(a)), and the Deputy Mayor will act as Mayor when there is a vacancy in the Mayor's office or the Mayor is temporarily unable to act (see note on Schedule 4).

104.     If the Deputy Mayor becomes acting Mayor for a period of longer than three months, he or she will stand down from the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Chair of the Assembly will appoint another member of the Assembly in his or her place.

105.     If the vacancy in the Mayor's office is only temporary the Deputy Mayor will resume his position on the Police Authority when the Mayor resumes office. If the vacancy is permanent the substitute member of the Assembly will remain on the Police Authority until the next election is held: Schedule 4 contains provisions on this.

106.     The Deputy Mayor cannot be the Chair or Deputy Chair of the Assembly.

107.     The Mayor may dismiss the Deputy Mayor at any time. A Deputy Mayor may resign at any time. In either case, the Mayor must appoint a successor.

Clauses 42 and 43: Chair and Deputy Chair of the Assembly

108.     Clause 42 provides for the offices of 'Chair of the London Assembly' and 'Deputy Chair of the London Assembly', and for the functions of those office-holders. Clause 43 covers their appointment. The Chair and Deputy Chair will both be elected by the Assembly from amongst its members. Neither can be appointed as Deputy Mayor and retain the office of Chair or Deputy Chair of the Assembly. If there is a vacancy in the office of Mayor and there is no Deputy Mayor, the Chair of the Assembly will exercise the functions of the Mayor subject to the restrictions which relate to the Deputy Mayor - as set out in paragraphs 4 and 10 of Schedule 4.

Clauses 44 to 48: Meetings and procedure of the Assembly

109.     Clause 44 provides for meetings of the whole Assembly. Within ten days of an ordinary election (as set out in clause 3), the Assembly must meet to elect a Chair and Deputy Chair.

110.     The Assembly must hold its first monthly meeting, at which it will consider the Mayor's monthly report (details of which are provided in the note on clause 37), and question the Mayor and employees of the Authority, not later than 15 days after the date of ordinary elections. Thereafter, the Assembly must hold meetings of this sort at intervals of no more than one month.

111.     The Mayor and his employees will be required to attend these monthly meetings and answer questions put to them by the Assembly. Subsection (4) of clause 59 specifies those employees of the Authority who are to be required to attend the Assembly's meetings as part of their terms and conditions. They will include senior permanent officers, together with the Mayor's two political advisers and ten personal appointments.

112.     Subsection (4) of clause 44 allows the Chair of the Assembly to call extraordinary meetings of the Assembly at any time.

113.     If the Chair refuses to call an extraordinary meeting after a request by five members of the Assembly has been presented to him, or if the Chair fails to call an extraordinary meeting within seven days of receiving such a request, then any five Assembly members may call such a meeting. The power to request or call an extraordinary meeting cannot be delegated by the Assembly to a committee or to an individual Assembly member.

114.     Clause 45 contains provisions on Assembly procedure. The Assembly will be able to determine its own procedure and that of all its committees, including the size and composition of a quorum. This discretion will be subject to the provisions set out in clause 43 requiring the Assembly to elect a Chair and Deputy Chair, to hold regular monthly meetings, to procedures for holding extraordinary meetings, and any subsequent provisions regulating the Assembly's procedures.

115.     Clause 46 provides for delegation of the discharge of the functions of Assembly. The Assembly may arrange for any of its functions to be exercised either by a committee of the Assembly, or by a single Assembly member. In arranging for its functions to be exercised by a committee or individual Assembly member, the Assembly does not thereby prevent itself as a whole from exercising those functions. Certain functions must be exercised by the whole Assembly; for example, its duty to hold a meeting to elect a Chair and Deputy Chair, as provided for in clause 44.

116.     There are special provisions relating to the Police. Section 20 of the Police Act 1996 requires relevant councils to make arrangements for questions on the discharge of the police authority's functions to be put by members of the council at meetings of the council. Paragraph 73 of Schedule 17 inserts a new section 20A, which makes corresponding provision. The Assembly will not be permitted to arrange for its functions under section 20A of the 1996 Act to be exercised by an individual Assembly member.

117.     Clause 47 covers rules on the political composition of Assembly committees. Local government provisions governing the political composition of committees, set out in sections 15 to 17 of and Schedule 1 to the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, will apply to committees of the Assembly. The effect of these provisions is to require the Assembly to ensure that the allocation of appointments to Assembly committees reflects the strength of different political groups in the Assembly as a whole.

118.     The Secretary of State will be able, by virtue of section 17(3) of the 1989 Act, to issue regulations to secure what seems to him to be appropriate representation of political groups on Assembly committees. The Assembly shall be required to review the political composition of its committees, as specified by section 15(1) of the 1989 Act, when it first appoints members to any committee.

119.     Clause 48 makes the Assembly subject to the rules which apply to local authorities generally requiring them to hold meetings in public, give public notice of meetings and make documents publicly available. These requirements are set out in Part VA of the Local Government Act 1972 (sections 100A to 100K and Schedule 12A).

Clauses 49 and 50: General functions of the Assembly

120.     Clause 49 sets out the Assembly's powers to carry out reviews and investigations. The Assembly will be required to keep the Mayor's exercise of statutory functions under review. In particular, the Assembly will have power to investigate, and prepare reports about, any actions and decisions of the Mayor, any actions and decisions by any member of the Authority's staff, matters in relation to which statutory functions are exercisable by the Mayor, or any other matters which the Assembly considers to be of importance to Greater London.

121.     Clause 50 allows the Assembly to resolve, by a majority of those members present and voting, to submit a proposal to the Mayor. This power may not be delegated to a committee or an individual Assembly member, so any proposal submitted to the Mayor will have to come from the whole Assembly. The Mayor will be required to make a formal response to any proposals submitted to him by the Assembly in his monthly report.

Clauses 51 to 54: Attendance of witnesses and production of documents

122.     Clause 51 contains powers for the Assembly to summon certain categories of people to give evidence at its meetings and to produce documents.

123.     Subsections (2) to (5) set out the categories of persons who may be required to attend or to produce documents. These are:

• Any person who is a senior member of staff of the Authority or of one of the four functional bodies: Transport for London, the London Development Agency, the Metropolitan Police Authority and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.

• Any person who is Chairman or a member of the board of one of the four functional bodies.

• Any person who has, or any person who is a member or a member of staff of a body which has, within the preceding three years had a contractual relationship with the Authority.

• Any person who has, or any person who is a member, or a member of staff, of a body which has, in the preceding three years received a grant from the Authority.

• Any person who is a member of the Assembly.

• Any person who in the preceding three years has been a member of the Assembly.

• Any person who in the preceding three years has been the Mayor.

124.     Clause 52 sets out the procedures the Assembly will be required to follow when it requires attendance at its meetings. These include the timescale within which the Chief Administrative Officer of the Authority (see below) must give notice of where and when people are to attend, and the documents or types of documents they must produce.

125.     Clause 53 provides that the Secretary of State may make orders prescribing the categories of information which a person summoned to give evidence to the Assembly may refuse to give, and categories of document which he or she may refuse to produce. Orders under this power are statutory instruments which are subject to the negative resolution procedure of the Houses of Parliament (as provided by clause 272).

126.     Clause 54 covers the consequences of failure to attend proceedings. It will be an offence for somebody who falls into the categories set out in clause 51 to:

• refuse or fail to attend the proceedings to which he or she is summoned, without reasonable excuse;

• refuse to answer questions which are properly put;

• refuse to produce documents which have been requested, without reasonable excuse; or

• intentionally alter, suppress or conceal any documents requested.

127.     Any person found guilty of such an offence will be subject to a fine of no more than level 5 on the standard scale (currently specified under the Criminal Justice Acts as £5,000) or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months.

Clause 55: Ethical standards

128.     Clause 55 relates to ethical standards. Because of the allocation of responsibilities between the Mayor and the Assembly, the usual procedures which govern the conduct of business within local authorities cannot be applied to the Authority. The Bill therefore provides a power for the Secretary of State to issue guidance to the Authority about, amongst other things, the disclosure and registration of interests, voting in cases where an Assembly member has an interest in the matter in question, and the prescription of model codes of conduct. The Secretary of State may also provide guidance on the establishment, by the Authority, of one or more committees concerned with ethical standards and about the functions of such a committee.

Clauses 56 to 62: Staff

129.     Clause 56 provides for the appointment of three categories of employees of the Authority, and also provides for them to be appointed to the Authority in different ways.

130.     The Mayor will be able to appoint two political advisers. They will be personal appointments made by the Mayor alone, and the jobs will not need to be advertised or subject to competition. The Mayor will be required to report to the Assembly the terms and conditions of the appointments, including their duration. No appointment in this category can extend beyond the term of office for which the Mayor is elected.

131.     The Mayor will also be able to appoint not more than 10 other people to his or her office. These posts will be advertised and open to competition, and appointments will be made on merit in line with provisions of section 7 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. The Mayor will be required to report to the Assembly who has been appointed to each of the posts, and the terms and conditions under which the appointment has been made. No appointment in this category can extend beyond the term of office for which the Mayor is elected.

132.     The Assembly, or a committee of the Assembly, or officers of the Authority to whom the function has been delegated, will appoint all other employees of the Authority. These appointments will be made subject to the restrictions and terms and conditions set out in clauses 56 to 60 of the Bill which reflect provisions in local government legislation for the appointment of local authority officers.

133.     Clause 61 requires the Authority to appoint a Chief Administrative Officer who will have the same duties as those imposed by section 4 of the Local Government Act 1989 on the Head of Paid Service in local authorities. The appointment will be made by the Assembly following consultation with the Mayor.

134.     Clause 62 requires the Authority to appoint a Monitoring Officer who will have the same duties as those imposed by section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 in relation to local authorities.

Clauses 63 to 65: General local authority provisions

135.     By virtue of clause 63 the GLA will be included in the list of bodies subject to scrutiny by the Commission for Local Administration (commonly known as the "local government ombudsman"). This list was set out in the 1974 Local Government Act (as amended). Clause 267 also provides for the GLA functional bodies to be subject to investigation by the local government ombudsman.

136.     The ombudsman is responsible for investigating and reporting on complaints by members of the public about maladministration. The ombudsman investigates complaints and where appropriate suggests a course of action for authorities to take that should satisfy the complainant.

137.     The Bill gives the ombudsman powers to carry out investigations in areas where the GLA and its functional bodies are competent. Members of the public will be able to make complaints to the ombudsman about maladministration by the GLA and its functional bodies in the provisions of services. Because the GLA will be a strategic authority, it will be responsible for the direct provision of services to the public in only a few areas. It is likely that these will mostly be related to TfL's responsibility for highways and transport planning. (Public complaints about the provision of passenger transport services by TfL will be dealt with by the London Transport Users Committee - see the note on clauses 172 to 174.) Decisions taken by the Fire and Police Authorities that may have a direct impact on members of the public could include planning.

138.     Clause 63 also contains provisions to amend the parts of the 1974 Local Government Act which set out how the Ombudsman should inform local authorities of investigations he is undertaking into them, and how he should present the conclusions that he draws. These amendments will allow for the different structure of the GLA, and will ensure that the ombudsman takes account of the division of responsibilities between the Mayor and Assembly when he is preparing or submitting reports on complaints of maladministration against the GLA. For example, when the ombudsman submits a report to the GLA he will submit it to both the Mayor and the Assembly.

139.     Subsection (5) of clause 63 amends the 1974 Act to allow the ombudsman to identify individual members of the GLA in any report on the authority that he might prepare. Presently, the ombudsman can only identify individual members of local authorities who have contravened the local government code of conduct.

140.     Clause 64 ensures that the GLA will be subject to standard local authority rules laid down by the Local Government Act 1972 covering documents, notices etc.

141.     Clause 65 of the Bill provides that the GLA should follow the same procedure as local authorities (set out in section 236 of the Local Government Act 1972) when it makes byelaws.

Clause 66: Contracts

142.     Clause 66 concerns contracts. Section 17 of the Local Government Act 1988 prevents local authorities from taking account of specified non-commercial matters when letting contracts for the supply of goods and services, or the execution of works. This clause amends this section to include the GLA. The Bill also makes similar provisions for the Metropolitan Police Authority in Schedule 17 and for the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority in Schedule 19.