Member News
By Matt Mulley - 17th November 2009
Members of parliaments from across the Commonwealth convened at London's City Hall on Friday to discuss the devolution of power in the capital.
The MPs quizzed the Assembly's chairman about the nuts and bolts of governing London, and covered topics including the Olympics, budget, traffic and the environment.
The event was part of the International Parliamentary Governance Seminar, a two week-long programme of meetings, briefings and discussions organised by the UK branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
The seminar is designed to promote the Commonwealth and its role in supporting good governance by Commonwealth countries and the rest of the world.
The Mayor of London is the executive head of the Greater London Authority (GLA), while a directly-elected 25-member London Assembly oversees the mayor's work.
Assembly chairman Darren Johnson AM described the relationship between the mayor and the Assembly.
"While the mayor doesn't have as much executive power as, for example, the Mayor of New York, this arrangement is a first for the UK," he told delegates.
"The assembly has no executive power and its members do not hold cabinet briefs. Its role is to scrutinise the decisions and policies of the mayor and the various executive bodies under his remit."
These include the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Fire Authority, as well as those in charge of transport in the capital.
The mayor's office also has direct authority over strategic planning policy areas such as regeneration, housing and skills.
The mayor's independence is somewhat limited, however, by London's reliance on UK central government grants for almost two thirds of its funding.
£1bn of revenue is raised from additional taxation on top of local council tax.
The rest of the Greater London Authority's £12.2bn annual budget comes mainly from tube and bus fares and other charges such as the congestion charge.
By law all congestion charge money has to be reinvested in the transport infrastructure of the capital.
Traffic management was a major issue for many delegates.
The importance of perspective was emphasised when one representative from an African capital city which suffers severe traffic problems even praised the fact that she had been in London for a week and seen, 'no real traffic jams to speak of.'
While the Underground is directly managed by the GLA, other public transport provision in the city is under varying levels of control.
Unlike in the rest of the UK, the bus network in the capital was never deregulated. Buses are owned and operated by private companies but the GLA controls routes, fares, frequency and even the colour of the buses.
Transport reappeared as a concern during discussion of London's environmental policy.
The GLA can dictate what type of engines London buses use, in order to ensure they meet emissions regulations.
This is particularly important given London's woeful record on environmental pollution, particularly in the south west of the city around Heathrow airport.
According to Johnson, who is a Green Party AM, the city is one of the most polluted in Europe.
It is currently breaching EU regulations on air pollution, and the European Commission has begun legal proceedings against the UK government over the issue.
The GLA has implemented a Low Emissions Zone, which targets larger vehicles with the worst emissions, to try to combat the problem.
As part of the wider drive to tackle climate change, the GLA has set itself the target of a 60 per cent reduction of carbon emissions from 1990 levels by the year 2025.
The impact of development for the 2012 Olympic Games was also discussed. Delegates were interested to know what legacy planning had been made for the city once the Olympics had finished.
Johnson explained that the London authorities saw the Olympics as a catalyst for wider development across the city, as well as the specific benefits it will have for the east London area which hosts many of the main sites.
A number of delegates questioned the role of women and ethnic minorities in the London Assembly.
The assembly is elected via a proportional representation system.
Although there is no formal positive discrimination its make-up is more representative of London's population than would otherwise be the case under the traditional first-past-the-post system.
There are six committees overseeing specific policy areas, such as economic development or planning and housing. Five of the six are chaired by women or ethnic minority members. The budget oversight committee is chaired by a white man.
The seminar hosts representatives from across the Commonwealth, including India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Australia and numerous Caribbean countries.
Delegates praised the broad scope of the International Parliamentary Governance Seminar. The Hon. Abraham Browne MP, from the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica, said the event had been "very comprehensive."
"We are all here from Commonwealth countries. Our systems are based on the British model, but they have all evolved differently.
"This is a great opportunity for us to learn both from examples in the UK and from each other."
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.