Committee Secretariats Network 23 / 24 October 2008

GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY

May elections o 45.3% turnout o First politician with individual mandate of more than 1m votes o Results Mayor: Conservative Assembly: 11 Conservatives 8 Labour 3 Liberal Democrats 2 Greens 1 BNP o EC / AEA / ORG reports received with Assembly scrutiny report to follow o E-counting experience, a cost-benefit analysis and the need for a national framework

The administration Appendix A sets out the main organisational developments since May. o Slow transition o Deputy Mayors (Statutory) DM - Equalities DM - Policy and Planning DM - Government Relations DM - Policing o Policy shift - eg affordable housing targets o Budget reduction – target 15% cut o Organisational development – “Organising for Delivery” programme Early casualties and survivors 4 ‘pillars’ – ‘people, ‘built environment’, ‘finance and ops’, ‘corporate affairs’ Plus private office, Olympics team and Assembly Secretariat Timescale – target completion by end 2009

External relationships o London Development Agency – new Chair and Chief Executive o Metropolitan Police Authority / Service – Mayor has assumed Chair, Commissioner has resigned o – new relationship, City Charter (see Appendix B)

London Assembly o Anti-Tory coalition Chair (Labour), Deputy Chair (Green) Committee Chairs – 3 Labour, 2 Green, 1 Lib Dem, 1 Conservative o Committees – 7 main standing committees plus Audit Panel. The Authority as a whole also has a Standards Committee Budget and Performance Business Management and Administration Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Environment Health and Public Services Planning and Housing Transport o Member support Proportionality of committee seats - BNP not a ‘group’ under our legislation and therefore not entitled to proportional allocation although, by agreement amongst the other parties, the BNP member has been given 3 seats Bureau of Leaders – similarly, BNP member not recognised as a ‘group’ and therefore not included in BoL membership Support budget (for researchers, PAs, press officers etc) started from proportional allocation but is likely to be adjusted to achieve budget cuts for 2009-10 and the rest of the life of this administration o Scrutiny programme Being developed across known priorities and issues emerging from the new administration’s early actions Desire for pre-consultation role of inputting to Mayoral strategies (ante hoc scrutiny) – eg waste strategy (to contribute on plastics recycling) and possibly transport strategy o Budget The total of the Assembly’s budget is set by the Mayor but it is now a separate ‘component budget’ within the GLA Group (GLA Act 2007) The Assembly’s offering for 2009-10 is 3% from the inflated baseline budget, i.e. a small cash increase. The Mayor’s response is awaited.

APPENDIX A

GLA – developments since May 2008

THE MAYOR

Boris Johnson is Chair of and of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Mayoral Appointments:

Sir Simon Milton, Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning (having been an informal adviser on Planning since the election and having stood down as a Westminster Councillor and as Chairman of the LGA) – Sir Simon has taken on many of the responsibilities previously held by Tim Parker (former First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive of the GLA Group);

Richard Barnes, Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon, has been appointed as the statutory Deputy Mayor (with responsibilities for communities, cohesion and regeneration);

Kit Malthouse, Assembly Member for West Central ((Hammersmith & Fulham, K&C and Westminster), is Deputy Mayor, Policing, and Vice Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Anthony Browne, Policy Director (2002-2007 Times newspaper - environment editor, Brussels correspondent, and chief political correspondent; Director of Policy Exchange, Britain's leading centre-right think tank);

Alex Crowley, Political Adviser (Adviser to during the transition from May 2008; Deputy Head of Office, Conservative Group, London Assembly; Head of Research, Back Boris Campaign, 2008 London Mayoral Election);

Ian Clement, Deputy Mayor, Government Relations (former Leader of LB Bexley);

Kulveer Ranger, Director of Transport Policy (Kulveer was the lead delivery manager of the Oystercard for London in 2003);

Munira Mirza, Director of Policy, Arts, Culture and the Creative Industries;

Richard Blakeway, Housing adviser to the Mayor (Advisor to the Mayor of London during transition on issues including housing from May 2008; Special Advisor, Boris Johnson MP, Campaign for Mayor of London, Project Leader, Commission on Globalisation and Global Poverty, Editor, iDM: The International Development Magazine, 2004-2007);

Isabel Dedring, Environment adviser (Isabel is currently Director of the Policy Unit for Transport for London);

Guto Harri, Director of Communications; Dan Ritterband, Director of Marketing;

Neale Coleman, Adviser (Olympics) – soon to become a GLA member of staff.

Ray Lewis was appointed as Deputy Mayor, Young People (and resigned); Tim Parker was appointed as First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive of the GLA Group (and has stepped down from all these roles, remaining as a member of the Transport for London Board); James McGrath, adviser, resigned.

Kate Hoey MP, Commissioner for Sport. Kate's role will be to increase grass roots sport participation and access to sporting opportunities across London. Although she will have an office at City Hall and will be working closely with the London Development Agency on the London Legacy Plan for Sport, she will not be paid for the role.

Rosie Boycott, Chair of London Food. (London Food is co-ordinated by the London Development Agency.)

Anthony Mayer – has stepped down as Chief Executive of the GLA; Jeff Jacobs has been appointed as Interim Chief Executive.

LONDON ASSEMBLY

Jennette Arnold AM (Member for Hackney, Islington & Waltham Forest, Labour) is Chair of the London Assembly; Darren Johnson AM (London-wide Member, Green) is Deputy Chair.

There is a limited agreement in place between the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Groups on the London Assembly.

Richard Barnbrook AM (BNP) was elected as a London-wide Member.

The Assembly now regularly holds public confirmation hearings into the Mayor’s nominees for the key positions on the boards of the Functional Bodies. (It has, to date, not raised formal objection to any nominee).

FUNCTIONAL BODIES

London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority

Brian Coleman AM has been appointed Chairman.

London Development Agency

Mary Reilly, Chair of the London Development Agency (LDA) Board, and Manny Lewis, Chief Executive of the London Development Agency, have stepped down from their roles. Harvey McGrath has been appointed as Interim Chair of the LDA (and is likely to be appointed on a permanent basis). Peter Rogers is the Interim Chief Executive. The Mayor has also appointed Stephen Norris to serve on the boards of the London Development Agency and TfL.

LONDON WASTE AND RECYCLING BOARD

The Mayor reached agreement with London Councils on the composition of the new London Waste and Recycling Board and the appointment of its Chair (which will be the Mayor) and seven members. The Board was announced by the Government last year with a proposed budget of £60 million to deliver funding to boost recycling and ensure London's waste is managed sustainably, with minimal damage to the environment. The Mayor and London Councils will each appoint members to the Board. In addition, the Mayor now aims to direct up to £24 million of London Development Agency funds, being used to improve waste management in the capital, to complement the work of the Board.

CONGRESS WITH BOROUGHS

The memorandum of understanding with London Councils (the association for the 32 London Boroughs and the Corporation of the City of London) sets out plans to develop two significant proposals:

 A Congress of London’s elected leaders which will involve the leaders of London’s 33 local authorities and the Mayor of London meeting at least twice a year to discuss and develop solutions for the major challenges facing the capital.  A delivery board which will bring together all the leaders of London’s public services – including councils, the NHS, police and transport operators – to reflect the priorities decided by the Congress and deliver excellent and improved services for all Londoners.

MAYOR’S FUND

Sir Trevor Chinn has been appointed as chair of the Mayor’s Fund for London. The Mayor's Fund for London will be a charity that aims to get money from the wealth- creating sector to communities across London that are facing hardship. The Mayor’s Fund will help provide support and engagement to these communities, particularly targeting disaffected young people. Funding distributed will be in addition to LDA and Government funding, including the £79 million pledged for youth clubs in London.

FORENSIC AUDIT PANEL AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE REVIEW

Immediately following the election, the Mayor announced the formation of a Forensic Audit Panel to investigate financial management and controls at the London Development Agency and the Greater London Authority (under the leadership of Patience Wheatcroft). The former Chief Executive, Anthony Mayer, also commissioned a review of the corporate governance arrangements at the GLA and at GLA Group-wide level.

Both of these reports have now been published and are under consideration by the Mayor and Assembly. APPENDIX B

City Charter - Extracts from London Councils’ website:

Boris Johnson and London Councils sign City Charter agreement

Mayor of London Boris Johnson and London Councils today agreed a new set of principles that will enable them to work together more effectively in delivering first class services to all Londoners. The Memorandum of Understanding sets out clear guidance for future working that will ensure improved relationships across all of London government, resulting in a better service for the public. The Mayor and Chairman of London Councils, Councillor Merrick Cockell, signed the new agreement today during the Mayor's first appearance at the London Councils Leaders Committee. The Mayor addressed the committee and underlined his commitment to working closely with London's borough Leaders. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "I am very pleased that we have agreed a positive new approach to working together. I originally met with London Councils and borough leaders a few weeks ago to start the process so I am utterly impressed by the speed at which we have agreed this understanding. "Over the next few months we will build on this and deliver a City Charter for London which will look at a wide range of important policy areas that can make a real difference to governance in the capital. We are all committed to serving Londoners in the best way possible and I am confident that the London City Charter will achieve maximum results for all Londoners. "

On track for a city charter Mayor of London Boris Johnson looks to the capital's history to make the case for developing a City Charter fit for the 21st century To appreciate the importance of the City Charter, and why we need this concordat, we must cast our minds back to 1901 when the London borough of Croydon was at the forefront of a technological revolution. Amid wild excitement the people of London welcomed the first tram onto our streets and the idea spread so fast that by the Whitsun holiday of 1903 London trams carried 800,000 people everyday. It was so obvious that the electric tram was the transport mode of the future London County Council (LCC) began to promote a great network of trams that would enable tired overcrowded inner city workers to migrate to the suburbs for the benefit of their health. It was, however, at this point that the visionaries of the central metropolitan authority encountered a problem, a democratic problem, that would have been frankly unthinkable in Tsarist Russia or France or any other European great power. Under the terms of the 1870 Tramways Act it was the boroughs, and not London County Council, who controlled the roads and therefore the tracks on which the trams would run. The result was that when the LCC went to the City of London and the West End to ask if they could lay down tracks they were told in no uncertain terms to 'hop it'.