MINUTES

Meeting: GLA Oversight Committee Date: Tuesday 3 November 2020 Time: 10.00 am Place: Virtual Meeting

Copies of the minutes may be found at http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/london- assembly/oversight

Present:

Len Duvall AM (Chair) Tony Arbour AM Siân Berry AM Joanne McCartney AM Steve O'Connell AM MBE AM AM Dr AM Navin Shah AM

1 Apologies for Absence and Chair's Announcements (Item 1)

1.1 The Chair explained that in accordance with Government regulations, the meeting was being held on a hybrid basis, with some Assembly Members present in City Hall and others participating remotely.

1.2 The Clerk read the roll-call of Assembly Members who were participating in the meeting. Apologies for absence were received from: Deputy Chairman AM, for whom Tony Arbour AM attended as a substitute: AM for whom Steve O’Connell AM attended as a substitute; AM; and Peter Whittle AM.

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1.3 The Committee was informed that there were two items of urgent business which had been accepted by the Chair, in accordance with Section 100B(4)(B) of the Local Government Act 1972, namely items 12a and 12b, on the grounds that that the circumstances had arisen after the publication of the agenda and were required to be reported to the next meeting of the GLA Oversight Committee.

2 Declarations of Interests (Item 2)

2.1 The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

2.2 Resolved:

That the list of offices held by Assembly Members, as set out in the table at Agenda Item 2, be noted as disclosable pecuniary interests.

3 Minutes (Item 3)

3.1 Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting of the GLA Oversight Committee held on 7 October 2020 be signed by the Chair as a correct record.

4 Summary List of Actions (Item 4)

4.1 The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

4.2 Resolved: (a) That the completed and outstanding actions arising from previous meetings of the GLA Oversight Committee, and additional correspondence sent and received, be noted; and (b) That, pursuant to Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the information set out at Appendices 4 and 6 to the report be excluded from publication, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972, and it is considered that in the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, and to note the information.

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Greater London Authority GLA Oversight Committee Tuesday 3 November 2020

Exclusion of Press and Public (Item 4a)

4.3 See minute 4.2 above.

Summary List of Actions (Item 4b)

4.4 See minute 4.2 above.

5 Action Taken Under Delegated Authority (Item 5)

5.1 The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat setting out recent correspondence issued by the Chair of the GLA Oversight Committee under delegated authority.

5.2 Resolved:

That the action taken by the Chair of the GLA Oversight Committee under delegated authority, in consultation with the Deputy Chairman, party Group Lead Members, Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM, and relevant Committee Chairs, namely to agree the following, be noted: (a) A COVID-19 Online Seminar Events Programme and a spend of up to £250 for the first event, with an additional £500 for two further provisional events; (b) A letter to the Secretary of State, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, from the Housing and Environment Committees in regards to the Green Homes Grant and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund; and (c) A letter to the Mayor, from the Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee (FREP) and Housing Committee in regards to External Wall Fire Review Forms.

5.3 In accordance with Standing Order 2.2D, agenda item 12b was considered as the next item of business by the Chair, with the remaining business taken in the order of the agenda, due to emerging information namely a decision published by the Mayor.

6 Relocation6 from City Hall (Item 12b)

6.1 The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

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Greater London Authority GLA Oversight Committee Tuesday 3 November 2020

6.2 Mary Harpley, Chief Officer of the Greater London Authority, introduced the item detailing the decision taken by the Mayor to relocate City Hall to The Crystal, with the option for the to occupy accommodation at Union Street.

6.3 The Chair emphasised the London Assembly as a whole would have preferred to remain located at City Hall. However, speaking in his capacity as Leader of the Labour Group, the Chair went on to explain that the London Assembly’s Labour Group held the view that the Assembly should not be separated from the Office of the Mayor of London, and therefore should be located in the same building.

6.4 Tony Arbour AM, speaking on behalf of the GLA Conservatives commented that the negotiations with the landlord at City Hall had not been robust enough and expressed that, as a majority, the Group regretted the decision taken by the Mayor.

6.5 For the benefit of members of the public the Chair explained that the decision taken by the Mayor to relocate City Hall was a decision that could be taken solely by the Mayor, and that legislation did not allow a formal role for the Assembly in the decision making. The Chair detailed that the Assembly had given its views on the decision both publicly and privately and demonstrated that it had influenced considerations taken into account by the Mayor.

6.6 The Chief Officer thanked the Assembly for its work in developing options and pushing the project team to be robust in assessing all the options. The Chief Officer indicated that, in her view, the project team had succeeded in getting to the best position in negotiations with the landlord of City Hall.

6.7 Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM, voiced regret at the Mayor’s decision to leave City Hall and that it was a mistake in the legislation for the decision to be a solely one for the Mayor as opposed to a joint decision with the Assembly. Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM further commented that moving to The Crystal was an exciting opportunity, that scrutiny would need to continue as the move is implemented, and that the Mayor and the Assembly should be located in the same place, and therefore supported the Assembly moving to The Crystal.

6.8 Siân Berry AM echoed previous comments and expressed regret at leaving the purpose-built City Hall, but stated that the view of the City Hall Greens was to remain located in the same place as the Mayor’s Office. Siân Berry AM noted that the Mayor had not attended any of the internal meetings of Group Leaders to engage with the Assembly which she found discourteous.

6.9 Onkar Sahota AM, whilst recognising the pressure on the Mayor and savings required, highlighted that a central London location made City Hall accessible to all Londoners and that would not be the case at The Crystal.

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Greater London Authority GLA Oversight Committee Tuesday 3 November 2020

6.10 Navin Shah AM emphasised that only the option to move to The Crystal was presented for consultation and that the Assembly had worked hard to put forward other options for consideration. He went on to comment on the small size of The Crystal building and the fact that the Assembly had no voice in the decision making.

6.11 Joanne McCartney AM reminded the Committee that the GLA was facing severe cuts, there was to be a significant saving in moving to The Crystal, and that despite the regret felt by the Assembly it did present an opportunity to contribute to the regeneration of the Royal Docks.

6.12 The Chair requested that the Chief Officer look into the possibility of reserving desks at Union Street for Assembly staff, when their work required them to be in central London.

6.13 The Chief Officer committed to look into the options at Union Street for reserving desk space, acknowledged the input of the Assembly and Secretariat staff and thanked Members for the constructive dialogue and their engagement with the issue.

6.14 The Chair indicated that continued scrutiny of the relocation to The Crystal would be built into the Committee’s work programme.

6.15 Resolved: (a) That the decision taken by the Mayor, to relocate City Hall, be noted by the Committee on behalf of the London Assembly; and (b) That the Committee respond to the Mayor, regarding the Assembly’s preferred accommodation location in the context of the Mayor’s decision, the response being that the London Assembly remain located alongside the Mayor’s Office, noting the dissention of the GLA Conservatives.

7 Secretariat Quarterly Monitoring Report Q1 and Q2 2020-21 (Item 6)

7.1 The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

7.2 Resolved:

That the core Secretariat quarterly review for the first and second quarters of 2020-21 (May-July and August-October 2020), be noted.

8 Draft Committee Timetable 2021-22 (Item 7)

8.1 The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

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Greater London Authority GLA Oversight Committee Tuesday 3 November 2020

8.2 Resolved:

That the principle the draft timetable of London Assembly and Committee meetings for the 2021-22 year be approved in principle, noting that the final programme of meetings is subject to related decisions by the London Assembly to be taken at the Annual Meeting in May 2021.

9 London Assembly Chair's Event (Item 8)

9.1 The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

9.2 Resolved: (a) That the standing delegation of authority to the Chair of the London Assembly to hold an event, detailed at paragraph 5.1 of this report, be noted; and (b) That a spend of £500 to host the Chair’s event set out in section 5 of this report, be agreed.

10 Review of the Organisational Change Procedure (Item 9)

10.1 The Committee received the report of the Chief Officer.

10.2 The Assistant Director for Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced the report explaining that consultation was also taking place with GLA Staff, the Mayor and UNISON.

10.3 Keith Prince AM raised the issue of internal secondees and redundancy, in that secondees would be ring-fenced based on their substantive post, but would not be eligible to apply for the role they were seconded into should it become a permanent vacancy, and where there were other employees at risk of redundancy within that team.

10.4 The Assistant Director for Human Resources and Organisational Development explained that they would have to be flexible and look at each case on a case-by-case basis, but that consideration initially went to employees with greater rights to a post, as legislation suggested that secondees must be assessed on their substantive post in the first instance.

10.5 Keith Prince AM suggested that the policy should be clearer and reflect the case-by-case basis which the Assistant Director referenced as it only referred to secondees being ineligible to apply for the ring-fenced post they might be in.

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Greater London Authority GLA Oversight Committee Tuesday 3 November 2020

10.6 Further to the issues raised by Keith Prince AM, the Chair requested that the policy be amended to provide greater clarity for managers in dealing with secondees. The Chair also queried whether the policy had been looked at in light of the future budgetary pressures and cuts, and explained that if Assembly Group staff had limited opportunities to take up secondments in the future, then central training and development would need to be provided, as party Group budgets would be under significant pressure.

10.7 He requested that further clarity be provided by the Assistant Director for Human Resources and Organisational Development regarding secondments and opportunities for party Group staff prior to the policy being finalised.

10.8 Resolved:

That the contents of the report be noted, subject to the comments outlined above.

11 Resolution Policy - 12 Month Review (Item 10)

11.1 The Committee received the report of the Chief Officer.

11.2 Resolved:

That the contents of the report be noted.

12 Date of Next Meeting (Item 11)

12.1 The next meeting of the Committee will be decided by the London Assembly in due course.

13 Any Other Business the Chair Considers Urgent (Item 12)

Assembly Budget Requirement 2021-22 (Item 12a)

13.1 The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of the Secretariat, to which the Director gave a brief introduction.

13.2 The Chair asked whether there had been any issues identified arising from equality impact assessments of the budget decisions the Committee was taking and generally across the GLA based on decisions taken by the Mayor.

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Greater London Authority GLA Oversight Committee Tuesday 3 November 2020

13.3 The Executive Director explained that for the Assembly, Secretariat and wider GLA, equality impact assessments were completed for all restructuring exercises. It was sometimes not possible to present the results of these in public, where they related to small teams and there was a risk of staff becoming identifiable.

13.4 Tony Arbour AM commented that the Assembly regarded it a duty to make a fair contribution to saving costs, but that the savings that had been requested by the Mayor were disproportionate given the level of fixed costs in the Assembly’s budget.

13.5 Resolved: (a) That the proposed in-year reductions that will be made to the London Assembly’s current budget (for the 2020-21 financial year) as set out in section 8 of the report, be agreed and the Mayor informed accordingly; (b) That the London Assembly’s draft budget requirement for 2021-22 for recommendation to the Mayor, as set out in section 10 of the report, be agreed, subject to any changes that might be necessary prior to the final agreement on the budget in February 2021 to reflect: i. Any further advice from the Executive Director of Resources on contingencies and financial reserves; ii. Any changes that emerge during the remainder of the budget process; and iii. Noting also that the detailed allocation of the 2021-22 Assembly budget will be presented to this Committee for consideration and decision in March 2021, following confirmation of the overall GLA Group budget for 2021-22 in February; (c) That it be agreed to include the proposed request for corporate support as set out in paragraph 9.4 of the report; and (d) That the general use of the Assembly’s budget, as allocated to the relevant teams within the Secretariat by the Committee in March each year, as set out in this report, be approved.

14 Close of Meeting (Item 13)

14.1 The meeting ended at 11.18am.

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Greater London Authority GLA Oversight Committee Tuesday 3 November 2020

Chair Date

Contact Officer: Davena Toyinbo, Principal Committee Manager, Telephone: 0208 039 1285; Email: [email protected]

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