Greater London Authority Bill

My Lords, I am puzzled by the persistence of the noble Baroness. The present procedure, which has run for a few years, and which is well tried and tested, has not inhibited her or her political colleagues at any level in severely criticising the actions arising from a direction given by the Mayor. They have not hesitated to make their criticisms public or to attempt to embarrass the Mayor retrospectively. The noble Baroness is now saying that they want the chance to do that prospectively. With great respect, this is a time-wasting, additional layer of bureaucracy, which the Liberal Democrats are constantly telling us they wish to see removed. That is a laudable objective, but in the light of the experience of the noble Baroness and her colleagues in the Assembly, I hesitate to believe that what she proposes will move forward one jot the quality of the oversight that they have had over the Mayor. I shall not say that the amendment is a waste of time, but far better things can be done in the Assembly than to call for this pre-direction scrutiny.