London Assembly Minutes
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MINUTES Meeting: London Assembly (Annual Meeting) Date: Friday 14 May 2021 Time: 10.00 am Place: Chamber, City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London, SE1 2AA Copies of the minutes may be found at: www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/london-assembly/whole-assembly Present: Andrew Boff AM (Chair) Dr Onkar Sahota AM Keith Prince AM (Deputy Chairman) Marina Ahmad AM Shaun Bailey AM Elly Baker AM Siân Berry AM Hina Bokhari AM Léonie Cooper AM Anne Clarke AM Unmesh Desai AM Peter Fortune AM Tony Devenish AM Neil Garratt AM Len Duvall AM Krupesh Hirani AM Susan Hall AM Sem Moema AM Joanne McCartney AM Zack Polanski AM Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM Nicholas Rogers AM Caroline Russell AM Sakina Sheikh AM 1 Election of Chair and Deputy Chair of the London Assembly (Item 1) 1.1 The Chief Officer opened the meeting and conducted the election for the position of Chair of the London Assembly for the 2021/22 year. 1.2 It was proposed by Susan Hall AM and seconded by Peter Fortune AM that Andrew Boff AM be appointed Chair of the London Assembly for the 2021/22 year. Susan Hall AM and Len Duvall AM spoke in support of the nomination. City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London SE1 2AA Enquiries: 020 7983 4100 www.london.gov.uk v1/2021 Greater London Authority London Assembly (Plenary) Friday 14 May 2021 1.3 There being one nomination before the Assembly, it was: 1.4 Resolved: That Andrew Boff AM be appointed Chair of the London Assembly until the next Annual Meeting of the Assembly in May 2022. [Andrew Boff AM in the Chair] 1.5 The Chair addressed the Assembly, expressing thanks for his appointment and paying tribute to the outgoing Chair and Deputy Chairman. The Chair also recognised the service of former Assembly Members and welcomed those who had been newly-elected to the Assembly. He emphasised the unusual circumstances of the year prior, and the year ahead, and a need to come together to recover and rebuild London from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Chair stressed the Assembly’s role as the voice of London, holding the Mayor to account, challenging his decisions and monitoring his commitments, and called for cross-party working to achieve Londoners’ priorities. 1.6 The Chair then presided over the election for the office of Deputy Chair of the London Assembly. 1.7 It was proposed by Caroline Russell AM and seconded by Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM that Dr Onkar Sahota AM be appointed Deputy Chair of the London Assembly for the 2021/22 year. Len Duvall AM, as Leader of the Labour Group, declined the nomination on behalf of Dr Onkar Sahota AM. 1.8 It was then proposed by Susan Hall AM and seconded by Peter Fortune AM that Keith Prince AM be appointed Deputy Chairman of the London Assembly for the 2021/22 year. 1.9 There being one nomination before the Assembly, it was: 1.10 Resolved: That Keith Prince AM be appointed Deputy Chairman of the London Assembly until the next Annual Meeting of the Assembly in May 2022. 2 Apologies for Absence and Chair's Announcements (Item 2) 2.1 The Chair welcomed Members, officers and the public, both in the gallery and watching on the webcast, to the Annual Meeting of the London Assembly. 2.2 Apologies for absence were received from Emma Best AM. Greater London Authority London Assembly (Plenary) Friday 14 May 2021 2.3 The Chair confirmed that he was accepting the following items set out in a supplementary agenda as urgent business, in accordance with section 100(B)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, on the grounds that the items related to information which was not available at the time of publication of the agenda for the meeting and in order to ensure that the Assembly received the information in a timely way: Item 3: Declarations of Interests; Item 4: Results of 2021 Greater London Authority Elections; Item 5: Assembly Party Groups and Members; and Item 13: Minutes. 3 Declarations of Interests (Item 3) 3.1 The Assembly received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat. 3.2 Resolved: That the list of offices held by Assembly Members, as set out in the table at Item 3, be noted as disclosable pecuniary interests. 4 Results of 2021 Greater London Authority Elections (Item 4) 4.1 The Assembly received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat. 4.2 Resolved: That the results of the Greater London Authority elections held on 6 May 2021 be noted. 5 Assembly Party Groups and Members (Item 5) 5.1 The Assembly received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat. 5.2 Resolved: That the formation of party Groups from within the overall membership of the London Assembly be noted. Greater London Authority London Assembly (Plenary) Friday 14 May 2021 6 Deputy Mayors (Item 6) 6.1 Resolved: That the appointment of Joanne McCartney AM to the position of statutory Deputy Mayor and the nominations of Sophie Linden to the office of Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Fiona Twycross to the office of Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience and Heidi Alexander to the role of Deputy Chair of Transport for London, made by the Mayor be noted. 6.2 The Chair explained that the appointments to the offices of Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime and Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience, as well as to the role of Deputy Chair of Transport for London, were subject to a statutory confirmation hearings process. Formal nomination letters from the Mayor to the Assembly had been received the day before the Annual Meeting, initiating that hearings process. 7 Establishment of Assembly Committees and Bodies for 2021/22 (Item 7) 7.1 The Chair proposed considering Agenda Items 7, 8 and 9 together and to move amended recommendations. The Assembly received the reports of the Executive Director of Secretariat in relation to those items. The Chair noted that a paper had been tabled at the meeting, which set out a proposed committee structure for 2021/22, as well as the terms of reference and memberships of those committees, as attached at Appendix 1. 7.2 The Chair adjourned the meeting at 10.25am, to enable further informal discussions regarding the appointment of Chairs and Deputy Chairs of committees. The meeting reconvened at 10.40am. 7.3 Resolved: (a) That the bodies set out in Appendix 1 of the tabled papers and Appendix 1 to these minutes be established as ordinary committees for the 2021/22 Assembly year with the size, constitution, terms of reference, membership and substitute Members as also set out in that Appendix; and (b) That it be noted that the committee structure as set out in the tabled Appendix 1 and also at Appendix 1 to these minutes is compliant with the proportionality rules, in accordance with the provisions of Section 17 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 7.4 The Chair called for nominations for Chairs and Deputy Chairs of the bodies established as ordinary committees for the 2021/22 Assembly year. Léonie Cooper AM, Susan Hall AM, Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM, Caroline Russell AM and Len Duvall AM spoke on the matter of nominations. 7.5 The Chair received nominations for Chairs and Deputy Chairs as moved by Susan Hall AM and seconded by Caroline Russell AM. Greater London Authority London Assembly (Plenary) Friday 14 May 2021 7.6 Resolved: (a) That the following Members be appointed as Chairs and Deputy Chairs to the bodies indicated, for the 2021/22 year: Audit Panel: Susan Hall AM (Chairman), Peter Fortune AM (Deputy Chairman). Budget and Performance Committee: Susan Hall AM (Chairman). Economy Committee: Shaun Bailey AM (Chairman), Hina Bokhari AM (Deputy Chair). Environment Committee: Zack Polanski AM (Deputy Chair). Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee: Nicholas Rogers AM (Deputy Chairman). Health Committee: Caroline Russell AM (Deputy Chair). Housing Committee: Siân Berry AM (Chair). GLA Oversight Committee: Susan Hall AM (Deputy Chairman). Planning and Regeneration Committee: Andrew Boff AM (Chair). Police and Crime Committee: Shaun Bailey (Deputy Chairman). Transport Committee: Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM (Chair), Keith Prince AM (Deputy Chairman). 7.7 These appointments were agreed individually, by general consensus. Further to a request from Len Duvall AM, an indicative vote was held on the appointments, as a whole. Thirteen Members voted in favour and eleven Members voted against the appointments. 7.8 The Chair received further nominations where the position of Chair and Deputy Chair remained vacant and where vacancies arose because the newly appointed Deputy Chair was nominated as Chair, as follows: Budget and Performance Committee: Caroline Russell AM (Deputy Chair) as moved by Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM and seconded by Susan Hall AM; Environment Committee: Zack Polanski AM (Chair) as moved by Caroline Russell AM and seconded by Siân Berry AM; Tony Devenish AM (Deputy Chairman) as moved by Susan Hall AM and seconded by Peter Fortune AM; Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee: Susan Hall AM (Chairman) as moved by Peter Fortune AM and seconded by Keith Prince AM; Health Committee: Caroline Russell AM (Chair) as moved by Siân Berry AM and seconded by Zack Polanski AM; Emma Best AM (Deputy Chairman) as moved by Susan Hall AM and seconded by Peter Fortune AM; Housing Committee: Tony Devenish AM (Deputy Chairman) as moved by Susan Hall AM and seconded by Peter Fortune AM; GLA Oversight Committee: Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM (Chair) as moved by Caroline Russell AM and seconded by Susan Hall AM; Greater London Authority London Assembly (Plenary) Friday 14 May 2021 Planning and Regeneration Committee: Siân Berry AM (Deputy Chairman) as moved by Caroline Russell AM and seconded by Zack Polanski AM; and Police and Crime Committee: Shaun Bailey AM (Chairman) as moved by Susan Hall AM and seconded by Peter Fortune AM; Susan Hall AM (Deputy Chairman) as moved by Peter Fortune AM and seconded by Keith Prince AM.