Greater London Authority Bill

Greater London Authority Bill - continued	House of Lords
PART II, GENERAL FUNCTIONS AND PROCEDURE - continued

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Exercise of functions: general principles

Authority functions to be exercisable by Mayor, Assembly or both.

29. - (1) Any function transferred to, or conferred or imposed on, the Authority by or under this Act or any other Act (whenever passed) shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, be exercisable-

(a) only by the Mayor acting on behalf of the Authority;

(b) only by the Assembly so acting; or

(2) Any function-

(a) which is transferred to, or conferred or imposed on, the Authority by or under this Act or any other Act (whenever passed), and

(b) which (apart from this subsection) is not made exercisable on behalf of the Authority by the Mayor, by the Assembly, or by the Mayor and the Assembly acting jointly,

shall be exercisable only by the Mayor acting on behalf of the Authority.

(3) Any function transferred to, or conferred or imposed on, the Mayor by or under this Act or any other Act (whenever passed) shall be taken to be a function of the Authority exercisable only by the Mayor acting on behalf of the Authority.

(4) Any function transferred to, or conferred or imposed on, the Assembly by or under this Act or any other Act (whenever passed) shall be taken to be a function of the Authority exercisable only by the Assembly acting on behalf of the Authority.

(5) Any function transferred to, or conferred or imposed on, the Mayor and the Assembly by or under this Act or any other Act (whenever passed) shall be taken to be a function of the Authority exercisable only by the Mayor and Assembly acting jointly on behalf of the Authority.

(6) Subsections (3) and (4) above are subject to subsection (5) above.

(7) Any reference in this Act to-

(a) functions of the Authority,

(b) functions of the Mayor,

(d) functions of the Mayor and Assembly,

shall be construed in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section.

(8) Subsections (1) to (7) above are subject to any express provision to the contrary in this Act.

(9) Subsections (2) and (3) above are without prejudice to section 31 below and Schedule 4 to this Act.

(10) This section is subject, in particular, to Part II of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 (contracting out).

Discharge during vacancy or temporary incapacity of Mayor.

30. Schedule 4 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the discharge of functions during periods when-

(a) there is a vacancy in the office of Mayor; or

(b) there is no such vacancy but the Mayor is unable to act in his office.

Functions exercisable by the Mayor

Delegation.

31. - (1) Any function exercisable on behalf of the Authority by the Mayor shall also be exercisable on behalf of the Authority by any of the bodies or persons specified in subsection (2) below, if or to the extent that the Mayor so authorises, whether generally or specially, and subject to any conditions imposed by the Mayor.

(2) Those bodies and persons are-

(a) the Deputy Mayor;

(b) any member of staff of the Authority;

(d) the London Development Agency;

(e) any local authority.

(3) Subsection (1) above does not apply-

(a) in relation to functions under this section; or

(b) in relation to any function of making appointments under subsection (1) of section 56 below (which, subject to the provisions of Schedule 4 to this Act, shall be exercisable only by the Mayor).

(4) Each of the following bodies, namely-

(a) Transport for London,

(b) the London Development Agency,

shall have power to exercise functions on behalf of the Authority in accordance with this section, whether or not they would have power to do so apart from this subsection and irrespective of the nature of the function.

(5) Subsections (3) and (4) of section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 (delegation of functions to committees, officers etc, and continued exercise by local authority concerned) shall apply in relation to any authorisation given by the Mayor to a local authority by virtue of subsection (1) above as they apply to arrangements under that section between one local authority and another.

(6) Section 101(5) of the Local Government Act 1972 (discharge of functions by two or more local authorities jointly) shall have effect so far as relating to functions which, in the case of the Authority, are exercisable by the Mayor as if the Authority acting through the Mayor were a local authority.

(7) An authorisation under this section may be varied or revoked at any time by the Mayor.

(8) Any authorisation under this section, and any variation or revocation of such an authorisation, must be in writing.

Contracting out.

32. - (1) Part II of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 (contracting out) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In section 70 (functions of local authorities) in subsection (1)(b), after "section 56 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973" there shall be inserted "or section 31 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999".

(3) After subsection (5) of that section (which implies certain terms into arrangements under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 etc) there shall be inserted-

"(6) Any reference in subsection (5) above to arrangements under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 includes a reference to an authorisation under section 31 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999."

(4) In section 79(1) (interpretation of Part II) in the definition of "local authority", in paragraph (a), after "London borough council," there shall be inserted "the Greater London Authority acting through the Mayor of London,".

The Mayor's strategies

General duties of the Mayor in relation to his strategies.

33. - (1) This section applies to-

(a) the transport strategy prepared and published under section 127 below,

(b) the London Development Agency strategy prepared and published under section 7A(2) of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998,

(d) the London Biodiversity Action Plan prepared and published under section 310 below,

(e) the municipal waste management strategy prepared and published under section 311 below,

(f) the London air quality strategy prepared and published under section 317 below,

(g) the London ambient noise strategy prepared and published under section 325 below, and

(h) the culture strategy prepared and published under section 329 below.

(2) The Mayor shall keep each of the strategies mentioned in subsection (1) above under review and shall make such revisions of those strategies as he considers necessary.

(3) Subsection (2) above does not apply in relation to the spatial development strategy (for which separate provision as to review is made by section 299 below).

(4) In preparing or revising any strategy mentioned in subsection (1) above, the Mayor shall have regard to-

(a) the principal purposes of the Authority;

(b) the effect which the proposed strategy or revision would have on-

(i) the health of persons in Greater London; and

(ii) the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

(5) Those matters are-

(a) the need to ensure that the strategy is consistent with national policies and with such international obligations as the Secretary of State may notify to the Mayor for the purposes of this paragraph;

(b) the need to ensure that the strategy is consistent with each other strategy mentioned in subsection (1) above;

(d) the desirability of promoting and encouraging the use of the River Thames, in particular for the provision of passenger transport services and for the transportation of freight.

(6) The Mayor-

(a) in considering whether any strategy mentioned in subsection (1) above needs to be revised,

(b) in implementing any such strategy, or

shall have regard to the matters specified in subsection (5) above.

(7) Where the Mayor prepares or revises any strategy mentioned in subsection (1) above, he shall include such of the available policies and proposals relating to the subject matter of the strategy as he considers best calculated-

(a) to promote improvements in the health of persons in Greater London, and

(b) to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom,

except to the extent that he considers that any action that would need to be taken by virtue of paragraph (a) or (b) above is not reasonably practicable in all the circumstances of the case.

(8) In subsection (7)(a) above, the reference to promoting improvements in health includes a reference to mitigating any detriment to health which would otherwise be occasioned by the strategy or revision.

(9) For the purposes of this section "international obligations" means international obligations of the United Kingdom under any treaty, including obligations under the Community Treaties.

(10) For the purposes of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to a strategy includes a reference to the London Biodiversity Action Plan.

Prepared 30 July 1999