Greater London Authority Bill

My Lords, very similar issues arise on the noble Baroness’s Amendment No. 5, which would provide for the Mayor to delegate any decisions on subsequent approvals required under hazardous substances consent and conservation area consent to the relevant borough. As I said previously, we are concerned that decisions are made at the right level. For the reasons I gave in relation to Amendments Nos. 3 and 4, it is unnecessary to say anything in the Bill in relation to the delegation of subsequent approvals under conditions and conservation area consents. That can be dealt with in the wording of individual conditions. It is also unnecessary to say anything more on hazardous substances consent because new Section 2B(5)(b) in Clause 33 already makes it clear that the Mayor will be the hazardous substances authority only for the purposes of determining the hazardous substances consent connected with the planning application before him. That is where his role as hazardous substances authority formally ends. If the Mayor attaches any requirements for subsequent approvals to the hazardous substances consent—for example, the specification of containers for storing the substance—they will automatically fall to be considered by the local authority, the borough, acting as the hazardous substances authority. The borough is defined as the authority under the Hazardous Substances Act 1990, but it will of course have to act on the advice of the Health and Safety Executive. That, I hope, puts the position on the record. Again, if there is any possibility of confusion, we will make sure that it is included in the circular. The noble Baroness did not ask about our specific reference to listed building consents requiring subsequent approval of details in this part of the Bill, but I will set out the position. This procedure is specifically identified under the Listed Buildings Act and may be used, for example, where specific detailed additional information is needed before a listed building can be altered. In this Bill we are seeing the interrelationship between several different pieces of legislation which ascribe responsibilities and actions to different bodies as appropriate. That explains why the position is slightly more complex.