A New Settlement for London's Government by The Conservative Party

A NEW SETTLEMENT FOR LONDON’S GOVERNMENT

With a population as large as Wales and Scotland combined, and an economy larger than Denmark and Portugal combined, London is more than just a city. It is home to more people than many EU member states, and is one of the few cities in the world with a genuinely global role. But despite being a global powerhouse, London’s devolution settlement remains politically flawed and there is much room for improvement, particularly in ensuring that we see local decisions taken by the local communities that they will affect. The office of the Mayor of London, in place since 2000, has worked well. It has enabled more public services to be devolved from Whitehall and delivered closer to Londoners. Through democratic debate and a clear electoral mandate, it has given the UK’s premier city the leadership it needs in key policy areas such as transport infrastructure, policing, affordable housing, opportunities for children and young people, and environmental improvements. As the transfer of power in 2008 showed, the Mayoralty has proved itself democratically accountable. When Boris Johnson won, he got over one million votes – the largest personal mandate of any politician in British history, in an election campaign that so caught the public attention that turnout was up 10 per cent. However, although the Mayor has substantial informal powers, outside transport and policing his formal powers are minimal, and he remains highly dependent on national government. When the Labour Government created the mayoralty in 1999, it deliberately kept the office of Mayor weak for fear of who its first incumbent might turn out to be. But 10 years and two incumbents later, the London mayoralty has proved it is a mature, democratically legitimate institution. For the Conservative Party, driving local accountability is a key part of our local government agenda and it is therefore time to look at how we can strengthen London’s devolutionary settlement for Londoners. We are determined to bring forward a better settlement for London, and that means giving the Mayor the powers that Londoners expect him to have. It also means looking at whether we can go further in pushing down powers to the London boroughs, where local communities can and should make their own decisions when they do not have a pan-London, strategic influence. The current London settlement falls short of the city government arrangements in place in other world cities, such as New York and Tokyo. The governance and funding arrangements for the bodies reporting to the Mayoralty – collectively known as the Greater London Authority (GLA) Group – are highly complex and inflexible, making it difficult for the Mayoralty to function to its full potential.

A NEW SETTLEMENT FOR LONDON’S GOVERNMENT

This paper therefore puts forward areas of Whitehall responsibility which could usefully be devolved to London government. It also proposes reforms in those areas in which there are confused accountabilities between Whitehall and the Mayoralty. Statutory powers are not, of course, the be all and end all for London’s Mayor. The office holder will always rely on the profile and the influence that the role brings. But statute must enable rather than hinder the Mayor; free up rather than restrict. We have already announced that a Conservative government would: abolish the Government Office for London and hand any remaining powers to the GLA, the London Boroughs or the relevant sponsoring department; make the Royal Parks Agency accountable to the Mayor rather than central government; and abolish the Metropolitan Police Authority, with its scrutiny functions transferred to the London Assembly and its executive functions transferred to the Mayor. A Conservative government will also give the Mayor – like all other local governments – a general power of competence, enabling him to take any action to further London’s interests that is not specifically prohibited by law. The reforms outlined in this paper form a further part of a truly localist approach to public service delivery, in tune with the thinking behind the Conservative Green Paper, Control Shift – Returning Power to Local Communities, and also the Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s report The Balance of Power: Central and Local Government, in which real and meaningful discretion is exercised democratically at the appropriate tier of government.

A NEW SETTLEMENT FOR LONDON’S GOVERNMENT

Background London government comprises a directly elected Mayor who acts as the GLA Group’s executive and a 25-strong directly elected London Assembly which acts as the scrutiny body for the Group.

Direct influence

The Mayor’s role is to provide leadership for London and co-ordinate public service delivery in certain key areas of physical and social infrastructure, and the Assembly’s role is to hold the Mayoralty accountable for its performance in doing that.

• Transport – the GLA Act places TfL under the Mayor’s direct control. • Economic development – as with TfL, the GLA Act places the LDA under the Mayor’s direct influence, although it is also answerable to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

The GLA Group comprises five organisations: the GLA at the centre, which is the home to the Mayor and Assembly, produces the Mayor’s 12 statutory strategies, and oversees the annual budget-setting process for the Group and its four functional bodies:

• Planning decisions – for strategic planning decisions in London, the Mayor can veto proposals should they not fit with the Mayor’s planning policies, as set out in the London Plan, and in some cases take over planning applications from the boroughs and grant approval.

• Transport for London (TfL); • The London Development Agency (LDA); • The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) whose role is to oversee the work of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS); and,

• Community safety – the Mayor appoints the chairs of the Metropolitan Police Authority and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and sets both bodies’ budgets.

• The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). Currently, the Mayor’s principal functions can be divided between those activities that are under the Mayoralty’s direct influence, and those under its indirect influence:

Indirect influence • Skills and employment – the Mayor has some oversight of the London Learning and Skills Council but it is not part of the GLA

A NEW SETTLEMENT FOR LONDON’S GOVERNMENT Group, and answers to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. • Housing and regeneration – as a result of setting a Housing Strategy and chairing the London Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Board, the Mayor has some oversight of the London HCA but it is not part of the GLA Group, and answers to the Department of Communities and Local Government. • Waste – the Mayor produces a waste strategy and appoints the chair of the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWaRB) which has £84m to invest in major waste infrastructure projects in London over a three-year period. This gives the Mayor some scope for influencing the future development of London’s waste infrastructure.

A NEW SETTLEMENT FOR LONDON’S GOVERNMENT

Proposals

the Mayor’s direct influence and subject to scrutiny by the London Assembly. Our plans to give the Mayor greater freedom on how he funds his priorities, will mean he has greater flexibility to respond to the needs of Londoners and to improve further the key services for which he has responsibility, like the provision of new affordable housing.

1. Housing and regeneration The London HCA invests £1.1 billion annually in housing and regeneration programmes in the capital. The split responsibilities between national and London government are suboptimal for control over the Agency:

2. Port of London Authority

• The Mayor is accountable in the eyes of the public for the delivery of the HCA programme in London, but without the ultimate responsibility for its budget or day-to-day decision-making. The HCA is required only to have regard to the Mayor’s policies;

For centuries, the Thames has played a central role in the economy and culture of London and the South East. Responsibility for the river rests with the Port of London Authority (PLA), whose remit extends over the entire tidal Thames, from Teddington to East Kent, with control centres in London and Gravesend. The London control centre deals with a mixture of passenger craft and barges; the Gravesend centre deals mostly with merchant shipping, including the Essex port of Tilbury.

• The Mayor’s ability to make joined up strategic decisions about the major infrastructure for which he is responsible – on social housing, transport and economic development – is restricted, as the Mayor cannot wrap housing investment decisions into the GLA Group’s budget and planning processes. This limits the scope for the Mayor to devolve investment powers through to boroughs; and,

The PLA owns much of the riverbed and foreshore up to the mean high water mark. Its principal powers and duties are to: • provide, maintain, operate and improve port and harbour services and facilities in, or in the vicinity of, the Thames; and

• The Assembly is not able to play a full and effective role in scrutinising the delivery of housing on behalf of Londoners.

• take such action as the PLA considers necessary or desirable for, or incidental to, the improvement and conservancy of the Thames.

The London HCA should therefore be legally incorporated into the GLA Group, being under

A NEW SETTLEMENT FOR LONDON’S GOVERNMENT

In addition to these duties, it also carries out various licensing functions. Apart from one residual long lease, it no longer owns commercial operations.

for people and goods, and the potential both types of river transport can have for relieving congestion on our roads. Given the commercial significance of the Thames and its estuary for the movement of goods, the PLA’s current emphasis on harbour services is important. The movement of goods by water yields important environmental gains and should be encouraged. Although delays in the development of the Prescott Lock reduced the planned extensive use of river transport to the Olympic site, the 2012 legacy will still include a canal network with substantial potential for the future development of transport of goods by water.

The PLA’s Board comprises up to 13 members, of whom five are currently appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport, and up to a further eight by the Board itself. Despite the importance of the Thames to London, the Mayor has no right to appoint anyone to the board; nor do Kent or Essex County Councils. We want to see the PLA become a more transparent and accountable body, better able to deliver innovative solutions on how we get the best use possible out of the Thames. A Conservative government will therefore consult on how the PLA can work more effectively and cohesively with the democratically elected representatives of the people affected by its decisions.

3. Rail Franchises Clearly railways are vital to London. 70% of all National Rail journeys start or finish in London and Londoners make more rail trips per capita than any other region. Rail and Tube account for 77% of all commuter journeys to central London and 44% of rail journeys in London involve transfers to or from the Tube or the Docklands Light Railway.

We will consider the option of permitting the Mayor to appoint one or more of the PLA’s directors, with a view to enhancing TFL’s ability to deliver efficient and attractive river transport services. We will also give consideration to whether Kent and Essex County Councils should have a role in appointment of PLA directors.

Better coordination and integration between surface rail, and London Underground and buses could yield important benefits for public transport users. The extension of Oyster to national rail journeys in London has been welcomed.

In assessing the options for change, we will have regard to the advantages the Thames can offer in terms of low carbon transport both

A Conservative government would consult on how the role of the Mayor and TfL could

A NEW SETTLEMENT FOR LONDON’S GOVERNMENT

4. Olympic legacy

be enhanced, in relation to the awarding and monitoring of franchises for those suburban rail lines which are largely contained within the boundaries of Greater London. This would enable their views to be fully taken into account when the DfT sets the terms of the franchise and the intended outcomes for passengers. We recognise the benefits to be gained from a closer working relationship between the DfT and TfL in relation to these franchises, particularly with regard to efforts to improve coordination of rail services with tube, bus, cycling and other modes of transport.

The Olympics is a key project to kick start the regeneration planned more broadly in East London. We are determined to ensure that the legacy of the huge Olympic investment is the creation of an exciting and successful new quarter of London, with thousands of high quality new homes for families and thousands of sustainable new jobs, bringing real opportunities to local people and closing the gap in quality of life with the rest of London. To deliver a lasting Olympic legacy which obtains maximum benefit from the public investment going into the 2012 Games, it is important that the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) should have the requisite powers. We will therefore establish a Mayoral Development Corporation accountable directly to the elected Mayor with planning powers and control over all the relevant public land. This will help secure the desired legacy through providing leadership and a co-ordinated approach.

Our rail review sets out our plans to give the Rail Regulator new powers to champion the interests of passengers, by taking over responsibility for monitoring some of the key consumer-facing aspects of franchise performance from the DfT. We are certain that TFL’s views and representations on service quality will provide a useful and influential contribution to the Rail Regulator’s work on getting the best outcomes for passengers in relation to the London-based rail franchises.

Promoted by Alan Mabbutt on behalf of the Conservative Party both of 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4DP