Greater London Authority Bill

It has been a fascinating debate for those of us—the great majority—who were not in Committee on 16 January. I think that only two people who have spoken tonight had to listen to the previous debate. My overriding impression is that, essentially, this is a debate about process. We are all equally concerned that London is not doing as well as it should, although I come from the borough of Bromley, which was green and clean long before I became the Member of Parliament for Beckenham more than nine years ago. As everybody else has talked about what their local authority has done, I should say that it has just introduced a fat recycling scheme for restaurants and other such outlets. That innovative scheme covers a number of boroughs. We feel strongly that we are at the forefront of recycling and of dealing with waste collection. Many of the boroughs are determined to get better and I think that we would probably all agree that we do not want that determination to be dashed because of a centralising measure and a one-size-fits-all approach. I do not often agree with the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr. Raynsford). However, much as I might not have agreed with him when he piloted the Greater London Authority Act 1999 through the House, I certainly agree with him on this occasion on his principal argument that the Mayor should take a strategic role and not a day-to-day role. It is clear that there is enthusiasm on the part of the boroughs for the day-to-day role. They acknowledge that the Mayor already has a strategic role in relation to waste. That is as I think it should be, provided that the boroughs grip the whole issue and improve their waste recycling and disposal habits. I feel quite sorry for the hon. Member for Milton Keynes, South-West (Dr. Starkey). She clearly feels put upon by all of us from London, but if she hangs on for a little bit, she will find that things will get better. Clearly, all the various schemes that the boroughs are involved in concentrate on ensuring that Milton Keynes gets fewer tonnes of waste and that we look after it better ourselves. There is huge innovation. Perhaps incineration is not the best example, but I know of an old chemical incineration plant—not in the Greater London area—that recycled and cleaned some of the nastiest industrial oils and solvents. There was one famous occasion, at the height of the smuggling of alcohol, when Customs and Excise retrieved a large consignment of orange-flavoured liqueurs. For the space of a week, the plant spewed orange all over the neighbouring areas.