Greater London Authority Bill

It is always a pleasure to welcome the noble Lord, however fleetingly, to the debate. I hope that I can reassure him. As he pointed out, Clause I enables the Mayor of London and the London Assembly to set up and administer schemes that allow elected Members of the authority to receive a payment when they cease to hold office. Such a scheme can be established only if the Mayor and the Assembly act together to agree to establish it. Far from being out of touch, this clause brings the GLA into line with other similar bodies. It is also a question of fairness and prudence, as I hope to show. There is currently no provision to allow the GLA to provide a payment to an elected Member who ceases to hold office, although it can provide pension arrangements when elected Members leave. This change, therefore, brings the GLA into line, first, with the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, and, secondly, with the 2005 recommendation from the Senior Salaries Review Body, which proposed that a severance scheme should be introduced for the Mayor and Assembly Members. This is not something that we have invented or that the GLA has pushed for in a cavalier fashion. If the GLA chooses to set up a scheme, that scheme must be funded from its existing resources, and it will guarantee a transparent process. Therefore, the GLA will have to look prudently at what this will mean for finances, because it should not increase the council tax; we would not want to see that. This is fair and we hope very much that it is respected as the GLA grows and matures; it is a reflection of that growth. As I said, the change is made very properly, in relation to Scotland and Wales, and on the advice of the SSRB.