I remind the House that I am the leader of the London Borough of Bexley and therefore have associated connections with London Councils and the Local Government Association. As leader of the London Borough of Bexley, my experience of devolution in London has been under three different mayors. I am a firm believer in devolution, but it must always be to the lowest common denominator. That spend must be to address local issues and allow local government to be answerable to the electorate.
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London’s devolution deal is more than 20 years old; it is therefore very different from the other devolution deals. In the other devolution areas the mayor is answerable to the leaders in that area. That is not the case in London. What does that mean? It means that the Government give money to the mayor that is actually meant for the councils and local people, which can then be top-sliced, or parameters can be set that deny councils that money and therefore deny taxpayers their fair share. Likewise, as we have seen recently, the mayor can decide to extend ULEZ to the outer boroughs, on very little evidence. He will not listen to the fact that there are better ways to achieve better air quality in London, completely ignoring consultation.
Devolution to the lowest common denominator must be the answer because it means that the electorate have the last say and can therefore make the difference in how that money is spent. It will help to deliver levelling up. I support the amendments.