Greater London Authority Bill

I was a London assembly member for five years, along with five other colleagues in the House who are, or were, assembly members. I stood shoulder to shoulder with Mayor Livingstone in favour of the first tranche of the congestion charge and against the Government on the public-private partnership. On the day after we were first elected to the GLA, he came into the room where we were meeting to have a chat. There was much bonhomie and a lot of hope in those early days, but even then the Mayor struck a note of warning when he said, ““There’s only one vote, and it’s mine.”” That it was, and it has continued in that way—and the Bill extends his vote even further. In those days, the Mayor could only direct refusal. Since then, the mayoral nose has been poked into several places where it was not needed, not wanted or, more importantly, not strategic. His power was meant to be used only for strategic sites, strategic sizes of building or strategic locations. Decisions were made against the wishes of local people and of the local planning authority and were often overturned on appeal. I could not agree more with the remarks of the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey), who is no longer in her place. Although I agreed with the Mayor on congestion charging and against the PPP, he is not perfect in every way. I am worried about the planning changes proposed in part 7. I might have more confidence in the extension of his powers in relation to strategic planning decisions if it were at least to be done with proper scrutiny. In the London assembly, members frequently raised the issue of the Mayor meeting developers in private. Who knows what went on behind closed doors and what influence they were able to bring to bear? It was not right then, and there is no clarity about the proposed decision-making process to assuage my concern about it now. As many right hon. and hon. Members have said, the definition of ““strategic”” is very important as we try to support what we can of the Bill. In my constituency, as in that of the hon. Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn), we are desperately short of housing. Hornsey and Wood Green is no different from Islington, North in that respect. There is a dichotomy as regards not only the way in which the Mayor’s powers are used but the way in which his influence is used. Developers already use every word in favour of their development that falls from his mouth; they go to him to gain credibility. Their developments are not always about providing social or affordable housing—more often than not they are luxury housing crammed into tiny spaces between gardens, and the Mayor’s name should never be mentioned in relation to them. In cases in my constituency that have gone to appeal, fancy lawyers have used the Mayor’s words or letters of support to get legitimate decisions of the local authority overturned. What the Mayor wants might be different from what he should have. In development control, there needs to be clear and consistent separation of those formulating planning strategies and those who make decisions on the ground, unless exceptional and defined circumstances arise. That is a genuine worry. Extending the Mayor’s powers to direct determination and approval of planning applications represents the removal of powers from local authorities upwards. It undermines not only local involvement but the role that the public are allowed to play in discussions about planning decisions. I was pleased that the Minister said that the Government are now moving at least towards consideration after the local authority has made an initial determination, but what role will local people play when the Mayor makes the determination? It is vital that local people have a role. In my constituency, we have already felt the Mayor’s heavy hand on a range of planning applications. Although we are desperate for social and affordable housing, some of the ugly and hostile tower blocks that get planning approval are unacceptable for human habitation. The Mayor’s response to those who fight for their local area, sustainable development and infrastructure—schools, transport and health facilities that match the increased density—is schoolboy name calling. I gave evidence relatively recently to yet another planning inquiry—the third since I became a Member of Parliament—into another thoughtless, ugly and anonymous block. In just over a year and a half, I have participated in three such inquiries. The crux of the matter is that if those developments were well designed, attractive, with proper space, somewhere for children to play and proper health, education and transport facilities, they would not run into the hail of protest that regularly greets such proposals. They would not blight the environment or the aspirations of those who will live there for decades to come. We desperately need housing, but most of the worst housing is thrust on the most deprived areas and we do not need built-in deprivation for the future. People come to my surgery crying because they live in overcrowded conditions or because a bedroom of 8 ft by 6 ft, which is the minimum standard—developers appear always to go for the minimum standard in social housing—was fine for a baby but what was to be done when the baby became a hulking great teenage boy? He could not do his homework in the room and hung out in the street instead. One thus builds in future problems and it is no use alleviating the present pressure in boroughs or constituencies such as Hornsey and Wood Green if one simply stores up problems for the future. I am sure that any hon. Member who has a constituency like mine will recognise and understand the problems that I have outlined. My fear is that the Mayor will be torn between delivering his London plan, which is vital for London, and the experience on the ground. My experience so far of the Mayor’s interference is that he rides roughshod over local decisions and that the promised infrastructure—schools, health facilities and transport—does not arrive. The promises remain warm words. Without the infrastructure, there is a lack of social cohesion. When people scrabble over scarce public resources and battles take place about the entitlement of the already-heres against the needs of newcomers, all sorts of problems arise between people. We fear that from the Mayor’s decision making when he has no grasp of the local position.