Greater London Authority Bill

My hon. Friend is right. If there is to be a London plan, with a process of democratic engagement around the plan and an agreement that the plan is the right thing for the city, we will need to make sure that the delivery of the plan cannot be scuppered by major developments being refused in circumstances in which there would be no ability to address that decision, especially if they are important strategic developments that would have an impact on not one borough, but the delivery of the plan as a whole. That is why we need to recognise that the provisions are about allowing the Mayor to do his job. They are about allowing London to have proper leadership, while ensuring that proper safeguards are in place for local communities, so that London boroughs can do their job—can do what they do best—and can take the lead on the overwhelming majority of applications. The Mayor would need to intervene in a very small minority of cases. It is worth recognising that the Mayor has intervened and used his negative powers to turn down applications in a very small number of cases. The powers proposed in the Bill should be used in a similarly judicious way, limiting the number of cases that will be covered in future.