Greater London Authority Bill

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that point because I will be coming on to amendments that we have tabled to try to begin to define ““strategic””, which is crucial. Before I get to those, I shall continue logically through our other amendments. New clause 16 would create a conflict resolution mechanism for the Secretary of State to use if a planning application to be decided by the Mayor would impact on other developments such as a borough’s development plan, a waste or transport plan, or any other strategy relevant to the planning application. This touches on the beginnings of a definition of ““strategic””. The Mayor has responsibility for a number of development plans and if the Bill goes through Parliament he will have responsibility for another couple. It is entirely possible that a planning application could impact on one of the development plans, so there is a need for a mechanism to deal with that. We have created one in which, unusually for us, we would give power back to the Secretary of State to be the person who could resolve any such conflict. I come now to amendment No. 3. I referred earlier to an area in which the Mayor has already intervened more than most of us might think he should, but the increased powers in the Bill will give him the opportunity to intervene in planning applications a great deal more. We believe that he should be able to take over an application only for a limited time after a borough has resolved to approve or refuse it, or where a borough has failed to make sufficient progress. Amendment No. 28, in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Field), correctly deals with the special position of the City of London, and we support it. It would bring the City, as the financial centre, into line with Thames Gateway and the Olympic site. Although I lived in the City, in the Barbican, for nearly 17 years, and much as I enjoyed my time there, I recognise that the number of residents represents a fraction of the City’s value to the rest of the country compared with its financial services. My hon. Friend will be pleased with amendments Nos. 18 to 20, because they are our attempt to define ““strategic””. We want to see such a definition in the Bill rather than in statutory instruments. An application should be regarded as strategic if it has an effect beyond the local planning authority, if it has an effect on the special development plan and if there are sound reasons for it. We believe that the City is a special case and that unless a very large building is proposed, as set out in our amendment on floor space and height of storeys, or the site is adjacent to the River Thames, which we think should be protected, an application should not be considered strategic. We therefore agree with amendments Nos. 28 to 30 tabled by my hon. Friend, and amendment No. 31 tabled by the Liberal Democrats, which, in essence, says much the same. It is crucial for the good order of planning in London that everybody knows exactly when the Mayor can and cannot intervene and what is and is not strategic. After all, this goes back to the original thinking behind the Mayor and the assembly, which included the fact that the Mayor should be involved only in strategic issues. Too many of his interventions have not been of a strategic nature. I shall now deal with the amendments to clause 31. I apologise for the fact that there are multiple references to section 6A. Not having been involved in tabling the amendments, I suspect that that is for a technical, drafting reason. The amendments try to set parameters for the Mayor’s powers. Obviously, we want as many of our amendments made as possible, and we recognise that if they are made there will be a numbering change. I shall take them one by one. Amendment No. 21 tries to ensure that if a borough is achieving its housing target there will be no need for the Mayor to call in a planning application. On many occasions the Mayor has indicated an interest in a housing application on the ground that he thinks that there is not sufficient affordable housing or that the borough is not building enough houses. We say that there is no need for the Mayor to intervene if a borough is achieving its target. That would leave the power in the hands of the borough to continue to decide on its future development in line with the wishes of those who elect the councillors. One of the key points behind all these amendments is that it is councils that are responsible to the electors and that know their community best.