1 Introduction
1. The impetus for this inquiry was post-legislative
scrutiny of the Greater London Authority Act 2007. In accordance
with Cabinet Office guidance, five years after the Act was enacted
the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) submitted
to us a memorandum on the operation of the legislation. It is
for us then to decide on the scrutiny required.[1]
Much of the legislation coming up for review was passed towards
the end of the previous Government and has been overtaken by legislation
enacted by the Coalition Government that came to power in 2010.
The 2007 Act was a case in point. It made a limited number of
changes to the governance arrangements that were enacted in the
Greater London Authority Act 1999 and which subsequently were
amended by the Localism Act 2011 and the Police Reform and Social
Responsibility Act 2011.[2]
While keeping the 2007 Act in view, we have therefore taken this
opportunity to carry out a wider examination of government in
London by looking at the operation of the London Assembly and
the division of powers between the Assembly and the Mayor.
London-wide government
2. On 7 May 1998 Londoners voted in a referendum
by two to one in favour of establishing a Greater London Authority
(GLA). It was envisaged that there would be: a city-wide system
of government made up of new public bodies responsible for transport,
economic development, the police and fire services; an elected
assembly; and for the first time in England a directly elected
mayor. The legislation enacted to achieve this, the Greater London
Authority Act 1999, created a hybrid system, with elements of
local government from the United Kingdom and the mayoral system
in the United States. Describing the political context in the
1990s, one of our witnesses, Professor Tony Travers, Visiting
Professor of Government at the London School of Economics, explained:
The then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, saw directly
elected mayors […] as a way of concentrating such power as
was left in local government. In a sense, mayors are a paradoxical
piece of evidence of how weak local government had become, because
the then Prime Minister wanted to make the power of that office,
or the executive part of a council, much more obviously visible
in order that it could then exercise power.[3]
He added that the model was intended to be "acceptable
to the British political system but nevertheless [...] radical".[4]
On 4 May 2000 Londoners returned to the polls. They elected Ken
Livingstone as Mayor of London and 25 members to the London Assembly.
THE GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY
3. The Greater London Authority has administrative
responsibilities across the capital, and within the GLA the Mayor
of London holds and exercises the executive power. He formulates
and introduces policies and makes the decisions. In contrast to
the Mayor and to local councils in England, the London Assembly
has limited powers. It consists of 25 members elected by the additional
member system. Fourteen members are elected to represent constituencies;
the remaining 11 represent the whole capital. The Assembly is
able to question the Mayor 10 times a year at Mayor's Question
Time. It also arranges itself into subject-based scrutiny committees,
such as its Housing and Transport Committees, to hold evidence
sessions and produce reports on the Mayor, his deputies and the
organisations providing services to London, including the GLA's
functional bodies. The Assembly has the power to scrutinise the
Mayor's decisions once they have been made, but its power to change
mayoral decisions is restricted to a power to amend the strategies
the Mayor is required to produce and, more significantly, to amend
or block his budget. But to do so requires a two-thirds majority
in the Assembly.[5] This
means that 17 Assembly Members (AMs) have to oppose the Mayor's
proposal. The Greater London Authority Act 1999 set up these arrangements
and subsequent legislation the Greater London Authority Act 2007
and the Localism Act 2011 has built on them.
4. The GLA has authority over four 'functional bodies':
- the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
(LFEPA),
- Transport for London (TfL),
- the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC),
responsible for the long-term development of the Olympic park,
and
- the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).
The Mayor appoints members to the boards of these
bodies, sets their budgets and strategy and has full authority
over them.
5. In addition the GLA has some responsibilities
for housing, which include creating a London housing strategy,
managing a programme to deliver new affordable homes and improving
existing social rented homes. London also has a capital-wide Local
Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to advise the Mayor on strategic
investment, innovation and competitiveness.[6]
This LEP was renamed the 'London Enterprise Panel' and began work
in 2012.[7] The GLA, like
local authorities in England, also has a general power of competence,
which may be used to promote economic and social development and
environmental improvement within London.[8]
6. The Mayor is not, however, able to exercise the
range of powers available to the devolved Administrations in Scotland,
Wales or Northern Ireland. He cannot provide or spend money on
health or education services, and he is forbidden from spending
money on any service provided by a borough council or any other
public body.[9] London's
services in health, education, social care, arts and culture and
environmental protection are all delivered by bodies other than
the GLA, including London's borough councils.[10]
The Mayor must produce eight strategy documents: transport, economic
development, culture, spatial development (the London Plan), environment,
housing, health inequalities, and skills and employment. But aside
from those for transport, housing and economic development, where
he has executive responsibilities and budgets, the Mayor must
rely on persuasion and influence to ensure they are implemented.
He has few powers to compel or override the boroughs, although,
as we explain below, he was recently given more authority in relation
to planning.
THE GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY ACT
2007
7. In 2006 the then Government published a consultation
paper on changes to the Greater London Authority.[11]
As a result of this exercise it decided to update the 1999 Act.
The Greater London Authority Act 2007 devolved further powers
to the Mayor and the Assembly. It gave the Mayor greater powers
over housing, waste management and in regard to planning—the
power to call in and take over from London's boroughs major planning
applications.[12] Previously
he had only a power of veto. The 2007 Act also gave the Assembly
new powers, including the power to hold confirmation hearings
for certain mayoral appointments and to produce its own budget.[13]
THE LOCALISM ACT 2011
8. The Coalition Government made further and more
wide-ranging changes, some of which superseded the Greater London
Authority Act 2007. The Localism Act 2011 empowered the Mayor
to establish Mayoral Development Corporations (MDCs) in order
to regenerate specified geographical areas. It has also passed
to the Mayor the budget and functions of the London Board of the
Homes and Communities Agency. The GLA can now acquire land for
housing and regeneration purposes. As in 2007, the 2011 Act provided
the Assembly with additional powers: to reject the Mayor's strategies
and any proposed Mayoral Development Corporations. The exercise
of both powers require a two-thirds majority.
THE POLICE REFORM AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
ACT 2011
9. The GLA gained further powers through the Police
Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, which made changes
to the structure of policing in London. The Mayor, through the
Mayor's Office of Policing and Crime (MOPAC), was given the same
powers as a Police and Crime Commissioner. He has appointed a
Deputy Mayor to carry out these responsibilities. MOPAC must secure
the maintenance of the Metropolitan police force, ensure its efficiency
and effectiveness and publish a policing and crime plan at least
annually.[14] Under the
legislation, the Assembly was empowered to set up a special-purpose
committee, the Policing and Crime Committee, to scrutinise the
work of MOPAC. The Committee can reject, on a two-thirds majority,
the appointment of any Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime who
is not an Assembly Member, but it has no power to reject the Mayor's
Policing and Crime Plan.[15]
THE LONDON FINANCE COMMISSION
10. The London mayoralty has not just sat back and
waited for Parliament and the Government to hand it more powers.
London has had two Mayors since 2000, Ken Livingstone and Boris
Johnson, who have been active in seeking new powers for their
office. Most recently, in July 2012, the current Mayor, Mr Johnson,
established the London Finance Commission, "to help improve
the tax and public spending arrangements for London in order to
promote jobs and growth."[16]
It was chaired by Professor Tony Travers of the London School
of Economics. After a nine-month inquiry the commission reported
in May 2013. It called for London government to have full control
over council tax, stamp duty and business rates and the power
to introduce new levies, such as a tourism tax. At the moment
the Mayor's independent sources of revenue are limited. The GLA
receives funding from central Government and from a precept that
it levies on Londoners' council tax bills.[17]
Since 2012 the Mayor has also been able to charge a community
infrastructure levy on new developments in London.[18]
Our inquiry
11. This report focuses on the functions and operation
of the London Assembly and its relationship with the Mayor. It
examines the role of the Assembly; the type of scrutiny it undertakes;
and whether its functions and powers are consistent and clear.
Our inquiry has a limited focus and may pave the way for a wider
review of London government later in this Parliament. We intend
to meet the Mayor of London in the autumn to discuss the report
of the London Finance Commission and the future of London government.
In conducting this inquiry it appears to us that the strong mayoral
model operating in London is here to stay. In other parts of the
country, any move to a similar form of government should be subject
to a local referendum. The Mayor of London's powers have increased
since 2007 and, if the pattern of recent legislation persists,
they may continue to do so. In our report we therefore ask whether
London's current model of governance allows the London Assembly
to scrutinise him adequately now and will do so into the future.
In this report conclusions are printed in bold and recommendations
are in bold italics.
12. The Mayor of London holds the executive power
in the Greater London Authority. We conclude that this model of
government looks set to continue with the transfer of further
powers to the Mayor through the Greater London Authority Act 2007,
the Localism Act 2011 and the Police Reform and Social Responsibility
Act 2011, and most recently in the current Mayor's call for greater
tax and spending powers in London. Such a concentration of power
in one person is uncharacteristic of the UK constitution, and
this raises questions about the remit and functions of the London
Assembly, which is charged with holding him to account.
1 Cabinet Office, Guide to Making legislation,
June 2012, Part 40, p 250 Back
2
See paras 7 to 9. Back
3
Q 6 Back
4
Q 10 Back
5
Ev 42, para 5 Back
6
"The Greater London Authority", House of Commons Library
Standard Note, SN 05817, p 10 Back
7
"Shaping London's economic future - Mayor of London establishes
London Enterprise Panel", Greater London Authority press
release, www.london.gov.uk/media/mayor-press-releases/2012/02/shaping-londons-economic-future-mayor-establishes-lep,
8 February 2012 Back
8
"The Greater London Authority", Library Standard Note,
SN 05817, p 6 Back
9
Professor Vernon Bogdanor, lecture delivered to symposium on 'The
future of London government', 24 May 2010, www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-future-of-london-government
(accessed 21/08/2013). The Mayor's powers are limited under section
31(3) of the 1999 Act. Back
10
"The Greater London Authority", Library Standard Note,
SN 05817, p 5 Back
11
DCLG, "The Greater London Authority, The Government's final
proposals for additional powers and responsibilities for the Mayor
and Assembly", August 2006 Back
12
Ev 31, paras 4, 6 and 9 Back
13
"The Greater London Authority", Library Standard Note
SN 05817, p 3; Ev 40, paras 2.1 and 2.2 Back
14
"The Greater London Authority", Library Standard Note
SN 05817, p 10 Back
15
Ev 41, para 2.2, Ev 45, para 6.4 Back
16
Greater London Authority website: www.london.gov.uk/priorities/business-economy/championing-london/london-finance-commission Back
17
Greater London Authority website: www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/gla/spending-money-wisely/budget-expenditure-charges/the-mayors-budget-for-2013-14 Back
18
This power was provided for under part 11 of the Planning Act
2008. Back
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