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Debate on bill and Committee proceeding on Monday, 30 April 2007, in the House of Lords.

Greater London Authority Bill

Greater London Authority Bill. Lords Committee stage first day. Clauses 1 to 11 agreed to. Schedule 1 agreed to. Grand Committee held in the Moses Room.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
691 c1-56GC 
Session
2006-07
Department
Department for Communities and Local Government
Legislative stage
Committee stage
Procedure
New clauses
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords Grand Committee
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Baroness Andrews | 691 c25-6GC (Link to this contribution) On the question of the American parallels, I can say that there are none. New York, where they have ...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c33GC (Link to this contribution) I do not at all disagree that this is an important and welcome extension of the Assembly's role. Wha...
Show all contributions (130)
Lord Jenkin of Roding | 691 c35GC (Link to this contribution) Would it not be appropriate to move an amendment at a later stage to make this reference the same as...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c54GC (Link to this contribution) ““Yes””, Hansard will record. That is helpful, thank you. Amendment No. 24 was one of those points ...
Lord Campbell-Savours | 691 c14GC (Link to this contribution) May I press my noble friend a little further? She said that people should refer to the Act. The kind...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c7-8GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 2: "““2: Clause 2, page 2, line 31, at end insert—"""(2A) After section 42A of t...
Lord Campbell-Savours | 691 c11GC (Link to this contribution) I speak as a council tax payer in London. I was interested in the words used by the noble Baroness, ...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c18-9GC (Link to this contribution) This has been another very interesting debate. To reiterate, Clause 2 strengthens further the requir...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c28GC (Link to this contribution) Any other person in local government in this country is subject to scrutiny, controls, rules, and st...
Lord Tope | 691 c26-7GC (Link to this contribution) I shall respond first to the noble Lord, Lord Harris and help with the situation in New York. In fac...
Lord Campbell-Savours | 691 c27GC (Link to this contribution) With the ending of the committee system in local government and the creation of cabinet members, is ...
Lord Tope | 691 c27GC (Link to this contribution) In most cases they have shared executive power. Again, it is a shared executive of up to 10 members....
Baroness Andrews | 691 c28GC (Link to this contribution) Reflecting on what the noble Baroness said, I think that the thing that concentrates the Mayor’s min...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c33GC (Link to this contribution) I am not saying that at all. This is a new and positive step in the Bill.
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c33GC (Link to this contribution) I make it clear that the Government see this very much as a positive development and are very commit...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c31-2GC (Link to this contribution) Again, this has been a very interesting debate. The Government believe that the new confirmation hea...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c32-3GC (Link to this contribution) I shall quickly respond to the noble Lord by saying that the question of the health adviser is about...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c33-4GC (Link to this contribution) I will leave that point there, but the noble Baroness has talked about key appointments. That is the...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c37GC (Link to this contribution) I am reminded that he cannot appoint himself to everything. Particularly, he can appoint himself as ...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c36GC (Link to this contribution) Suppose a Mayor of London wanted to appoint himself or herself as chairman of everything? Would the ...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c35GC (Link to this contribution) As a former member of the Select Committee on the Merits of Statutory Instruments, I can just imagin...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c40GC (Link to this contribution) I sometimes think that we may be on to something when the noble Lord, Lord Harris, gets going. The a...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c40GC (Link to this contribution) I had just made the point that the candidate’s address is required in any event. However, I am not w...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c48-50GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 23: The noble Baroness said: I shall speak also to Amendment No. 24 and to the ...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c56GC (Link to this contribution) This is a convenient moment for the Committee to adjourn until Wednesday at 3.45 pm. The Committee ...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c55-6GC (Link to this contribution) We have just had a long and detailed debate about the current staffing arrangements in the GLA, so I...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c54GC (Link to this contribution) With that, for the moment I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c54GC (Link to this contribution) I am not going to change my mind, but I am grateful for the clarification. We will read the noble Ba...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c14GC (Link to this contribution) I was not at all being flippant when I said they should refer to the Act. I accept the difficulties ...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c13GC (Link to this contribution) This has been a very interesting debate. I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Harris for opening it...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c15-6GC (Link to this contribution) I think that I was about to advance a stirring argument on the fact that the consultation measures i...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c16GC (Link to this contribution) Before the noble Baroness withdraws her amendment, perhaps I may make one or two comments. In relati...
Baroness Turner of Camden | 691 c11GC (Link to this contribution) I have no interest to declare as a former GLA member or anything of that sort. I am, however, a Lond...
Lord Campbell-Savours | 691 c23GC (Link to this contribution) The noble Baroness, Lady Valentine, referred to Mayors becoming tired. Well, MPs become tired, Prime...
Lord Campbell-Savours | 691 c23GC (Link to this contribution) Did I not hear a reference to personality? I am sure that, when I read it, Hansard will correct me i...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market | 691 c24GC (Link to this contribution) I am slightly provoked by those last comments. In fact, with an executive Mayor in whom all power re...
Baroness Turner of Camden | 691 c24GC (Link to this contribution) I, too, oppose the amendment. We should stop following what we believe is American practice. We do n...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c25GC (Link to this contribution) The United States system has been cited rather a lot. It was set up at the time of the Declaration o...
Lord Harris of Haringey | 691 c25GC (Link to this contribution) Again with respect to noble Lords, the Governor of Virginia has been mentioned, but the Governor of ...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c19-20GC (Link to this contribution) The note that I wrote to introduce Amendment No. 3 said, ““What is a consultation?””. I entirely agr...
Lord Tope | 691 c21-2GC (Link to this contribution) I support Amendment No. 37 in the name of my noble friends Lady Hamwee and Lady Scott of Needham Mar...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c3GC (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord, Lord Elton, referred to the severance being settled by the GLA. That is no different...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c2GC (Link to this contribution) I start by declaring the interest that I declared on Second Reading, which is a particularly large o...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c5-6GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss consultation, because it is so important. I am also gra...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c3-4GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 1: "““1: Clause 2, page 2, line 21, leave out ““or any of the functional bodies”...
Lord Elton | 691 c1GC (Link to this contribution) I have taken no part in the previous proceedings on this Bill, and your Lordships will be relieved t...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c1-2GC (Link to this contribution) It is always a pleasure to welcome the noble Lord, however fleetingly, to the debate. I hope that I ...
Baroness Fookes | 691 c1GC (Link to this contribution) I remind Members of the Grand Committee that if a Division is called in the Chamber, we will immedia...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c28-9GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 5: The noble Baroness said: Amendments Nos. 7 and 8 are also in this group, and...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c29-30GC (Link to this contribution) Amendment No. 6 is part of the group. Therefore, I would particularly like to speak to this point. A...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c27-8GC (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Lord, Lord Tope, for saying almost exactly what I was going to say. It is an extre...
Lord Harris of Haringey | 691 c30GC (Link to this contribution) Amendment No. 5 is perfectly sensible, but I am not sure that it is necessary. I have long felt that...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c33GC (Link to this contribution) I am disappointed to hear the noble Baroness say that. As I said, we wanted to raise the status of t...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c33GC (Link to this contribution) To personalise this to myself for a moment, I have to say that as an existing Assembly member, I fee...
Lord Jenkin of Roding | 691 c34GC (Link to this contribution) I hope that I have not implied that. I am asking merely why this particular post is the only one ref...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c34GC (Link to this contribution) I am interested in how I can convince the noble Baroness that this is a very positive step. I am rem...
Lord Jenkin of Roding | 691 c34GC (Link to this contribution) I have been listening to this debate with great interest. Some of it takes me back to my local gover...
Lord Graham of Edmonton | 691 c37GC (Link to this contribution) If the question really is the ability to question, not to prohibit, we are halfway there. In other w...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c36GC (Link to this contribution) The Mayor is elected by the people of London, and I agree that the confirmation processes would not ...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c36GC (Link to this contribution) When we are talking about the confirmation hearings for the chairs and the deputy chairs of the func...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c35GC (Link to this contribution) My noble friend has asked me to remind the Committee of the number of times we voted on the terms ““...
Baroness Valentine | 691 c38GC (Link to this contribution) On a point relating to the specific example given by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, I am not quite...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c39GC (Link to this contribution) This is beginning to sound like the mess that was made of medical appointments: no one is allowed to...
Lord Harris of Haringey | 691 c40GC (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether it would be entirely fair on someone who might be a candidate or a nominee for...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c40GC (Link to this contribution) I find it hard to think what personal information there might be in an application for a public appo...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c37GC (Link to this contribution) We just wanted to explore these areas. We had a long discussion about scrutiny and confirmation of a...
Viscount Ullswater | 691 c42GC (Link to this contribution) I must advise the Committee that if the amendment is agreed to I will be unable to call Amendments N...
Baroness Valentine | 691 c43GC (Link to this contribution) I support my noble friend Lord Harris. I do not support these amendments or, indeed, Amendment No. 1...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c41GC (Link to this contribution) That is certainly the case. It is necessary for the Assembly to be provided with the candidate’s app...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c54GC (Link to this contribution) I might say that the robust Members on the Minister’s side have disappeared because they knew they w...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c50-4GC (Link to this contribution) I seem to have lost my more robust colleagues, so it is left to me alone to fight off this barrage. ...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c44GC (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that reply and for the contributions that have been made. There does not se...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c46-7GC (Link to this contribution) I fully appreciate what the noble Baroness is trying to do in the amendments, which seek, as she say...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c56GC (Link to this contribution) Again, this is a matter of distinguishing between the size of the establishment and the making of in...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c55GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 25: The noble Baroness said: I shall speak also to Amendment No. 26 and to Clau...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c14GC (Link to this contribution) They could do worse than start with the Greater London Authority Act 1999, which is available in pub...
Lord Graham of Edmonton | 691 c10-1GC (Link to this contribution) Like my noble friend Lord Harris, I have no objection to the Mayor having certain powers. We have al...
Lord Sheikh | 691 c10GC (Link to this contribution) I support my noble friend Lady Hanham, particularly with regard to Amendments No. 1 and 2. I thank m...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c9-10GC (Link to this contribution) I, too, made a note, as the noble Baroness was speaking, that what cannot be anticipated by any cons...
Lord Tope | 691 c12-3GC (Link to this contribution) Like the previous two speakers, I have interests to declare. My noble friend has already declared my...
Lord Campbell-Savours | 691 c11-2GC (Link to this contribution) I hope that the noble Baroness will forgive me. She referred to the rules. I think that the rules sh...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c25GC (Link to this contribution) I was going to talk about the system of local government in the United States. It has been said ofte...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c18GC (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Baroness for her wishes for luck with my amendment, which arrived in a rather funn...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c16GC (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that response. It now depends on whether we think the process ought to be s...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c2GC (Link to this contribution) I cannot extrapolate from what I have said, because this will depend on the sort of scheme that the ...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c6-7GC (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that reply, but I remain as perplexed as I was when I read the proceedings ...
Baroness Valentine | 691 c5GC (Link to this contribution) I more or less agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham. However, if one adds the boroughs to the ...
Lord Elton | 691 c2GC (Link to this contribution) Before the noble Baroness sits down, may I ask her to elucidate? She says that this must be funded f...
Viscount Ullswater | 691 c29GC (Link to this contribution) I must advise your Lordships that if this amendment is agreed to, I will be unable to call Amendment...
Baroness Valentine | 691 c30GC (Link to this contribution) I should probably speak for London First myself, but I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee. S...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c32GC (Link to this contribution) Amendment No. 6 was specifically designed for the health appointments. The noble Baroness actually m...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c35GC (Link to this contribution) Yes, that is the case. This is not a frivolous point and I can see the potential for a debate on wom...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c34GC (Link to this contribution) I must resist the notion that anyone who is referred to as a ““chair”” must be a woman. I think that...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c34GC (Link to this contribution) I am advised that this is how the position is referred to in the Bill and that is why it is repeated...
Lord Jenkin of Roding | 691 c35GC (Link to this contribution) Was it the word used in the original Act?
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c34GC (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that it is a power to extend. Clearly, we are not going to make more progress on this t...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c35-6GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 9: The noble Lord said: The purpose of the amendment is to remove the Mayor’s p...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c36GC (Link to this contribution) Amendments Nos. 9 and 10 apply confirmation hearings to those offices specified in Clause 4 to which...
Lord Jenkin of Roding | 691 c35GC (Link to this contribution) I do not want to lengthen the debate, but it is a matter of a lack of consistency. I hope that the M...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c38-9GC (Link to this contribution) Amendment No. 11 requires the Mayor to include a copy of the candidate’s application in the notifica...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c40GC (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the noble Baroness is misrepresenting the situation as it is envisaged. In truth, the Assemb...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c40GC (Link to this contribution) It is not up to me to define what a candidate would see as personal information. I very much want to...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c37-8GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 11: "11: Schedule 1, page 53, line 32, at end insert—""““( ) A copy of the candi...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c41-2GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 12: The noble Baroness said: I will have to leave after this amendment to atten...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c41GC (Link to this contribution) Indeed. We might come to something of the sort a little later. I have made the case. I am sad that I...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c41GC (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Baroness for giving way again. I make it clear that the Mayor must give reasons wh...
Baroness Andrews | 691 c43-4GC (Link to this contribution) I do not think that I can improve very much on what my noble friend Lord Harris has said. It is no s...
Lord Harris of Haringey | 691 c42-3GC (Link to this contribution) I am slightly unclear about the point that has just been made about pre-emption, not because I do no...
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin | 691 c40GC (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt the noble Baroness again. Perhaps I may clarify that what is required is an ...
Lord Hanningfield | 691 c50GC (Link to this contribution) We support these amendments particularly enthusiastically, because the appointment of senior staff i...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c44-6GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 14: The noble Baroness said: Amendments Nos. 14, 18, 20, 21 and 22 are all inte...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c47-8GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for those comments, particularly the last ones. I am happy either to meet the Minister...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c14-5GC (Link to this contribution) This is a fascinating discussion. Clause 2 on consultation, under the heading ““The Mayor's strategi...
Lord Campbell-Savours | 691 c14GC (Link to this contribution) May I ask a simple question? If an ordinary mortal citizen of London faced some complication and wan...
Lord Harris of Haringey | 691 c15GC (Link to this contribution) Is it not the case that consultation on changes to the congestion charge zone are a statutory proces...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c15GC (Link to this contribution) I am absolutely fascinated by those remarks. The two cases have, of course, spun straight back into ...
Lord Harris of Haringey | 691 c8-9GC (Link to this contribution) This is a perfectly innocuous, if pointless amendment. However it is not assisted by the extraordina...
Lord Graham of Edmonton | 691 c23-4GC (Link to this contribution) I am getting to my feet because of something that my noble friend just said. He asked: why, why, why...
Lord Harris of Haringey | 691 c25GC (Link to this contribution) With respect, the US system did not prescribe under the US Constitution a term limit for presidents ...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c16-8GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 3: "““3: After Clause 2, insert the following new Clause—""““Consultation (No. 2...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c20-1GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 4: "4: Before Clause 3, insert the following new Clause—""““Mayor: limit on numb...
Baroness Hanham | 691 c19GC (Link to this contribution) I have nothing further to add on Amendment No. 71.
Baroness Valentine | 691 c23GC (Link to this contribution) I have a lot of sympathy with the proposed amendment. There is a danger that the Mayor will become t...
Lord Harris of Haringey | 691 c22-3GC (Link to this contribution) The noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, and the noble Lord, Lord Tope, quite properly made enormous efforts...
Baroness Hamwee | 691 c4-5GC (Link to this contribution) It is important that the Mayor should have regard to the views of London Councils-I wish that that b...
Lord Harris of Haringey | 691 c3GC (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I, too, should declare an interest, on the off-chance that the Mayor and the Assembly should...
Subjects
Greater London Greater London Authority Functions Local government Pay Powers Public appointments Members Staff Mayor of London London Assembly
Legislation
Greater London Authority Bill 2006-07
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk