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Greater London Authority Bill

I thank the Minister for that reply and for the contributions that have been made. There does not seem to be any power and muscle in the Bill; we are back to the Assembly as it is at the moment, a sort of toothless tiger. It can do all sorts of things: it can scrutinise till its head drops off but it will not be able to do anything about what it scrutinises. If the Assembly cannot make a decision on a confirmation hearing other than to say, ““That was very nice, thank you very much, now go away””, there seems no point in having confirmation hearings at all. The Assembly has to come to a conclusion about what these hearings are about and what and who they have been listening to. I hear what the Minister says but if the Assembly does not have the right to make a decision or at least to recommend a decision by a vote, confirmation hearings are absolutely purposeless. I shall leave that for today, but I shall come back to it. As the noble Lord, Lord Harris, said, this is the beginning of the development of the relationship between the Mayor and the Assembly that will result from the Bill. We will need to look at this again. I apologise for having to go to the Chamber and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendment No. 13 not moved.]