Greater London Authority Bill

First, I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Interests. I am a member of the GLA, and have a particular interest in clause 1, which deals with compensation for retiring GLA members. It is important to be positive in this debate, and to recognise the GLA’s success. By bringing consistent strategies together with different partners, it has secured a great deal for London. The GLA has been able to represent London’s interests, through its ability to pose questions to the Mayor for two and half hours every month—a grilling longer than anything faced by many Ministers. In addition, the Mayor is represented as an advocate for London, and that is another reason to commend the GLA on its work. The hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen) was right to say that the Bill is very timid. There should be a much more significant improvement in the powers coming down from Government to the GLA. In parallel legislation, it is very disappointing that the Learning and Skills Council responsibility has not been passed to the Mayor, given that the London Development Agency, as part of the regional development agency family, has been a principal deliverer under the GLA. It strikes me that there is much talk of cognisance of health inequalities in relation to the proposed legislation, but the Mayor is not given the power to deliver directly on health issues. I agree with what my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington (Mr. Horam) said about the obvious clash between the role the Mayor will be given and the continuing role of NHS London. The GLA should be the place for the strategic health authority. Perhaps the Government could have been even more radical and given PCT powers to successful and well performing councils, and therefore improved democratic accountability in relation to health. I know that funding flows are likely to be increased in relation to the various granting that takes place from the Government office for London, but I would have thought that it would be worth while to give to the GLA some of the crime and disorder grants that GOL currently provides. That would fit in much more appropriately with the policing powers that are there. All that would leave GOL as a small strategic unit with important roles in areas such as resilience and in relation to being a gateway to Government. There is a lack of a radical approach to the assembly. As other Members suggested, the two-thirds rule has left the assembly as a toothless wonder. One example of real action would be to require the assembly—within the resources provided—to set up a budget and performance office. That would work much more effectively in analysing the performance of the GLA as a whole. In many ways, the assembly benefited from what has already been described in the debate as a generous settlement by the Mayor when it was set up. In many ways, it has been placed in a gilded cage. There is a certain sense of bedevilment in relation to the Mayor, and perhaps even the Government, in terms of having a separate budget for the assembly, which will show just how expensive a project it is. If there were an obligation on the assembly to direct its resources towards a budget performance office, that would be good news. There also could have been powers for a call-in provision in relation to looking at some of the mayoral decisions, as is provided for in relation to local government. Perhaps we could have looked at the idea of separate billing for the GLA tax. That would go down extremely well with local boroughs that feel that their lower increases in tax are hidden by the GLA’s large increases. It was announced today that there will be another 5.6 per cent. increase above the capping level that the Mayor is proposing.