Greater London Authority Bill

I accept much of what the hon. Gentleman says. However, this is not about playing party political games over whether authorities of certain political complexions are good or bad. We need to examine London’s performance as a whole, which is poor. The situation needs to change, and that is the case in inner London, with its challenging circumstances, and in several outer-London authorities, too. One needs only to look at the diagrammatic representation of London’s waste management structure to get a sense of its disservice to accountability. I am a great believer that the most basic starting point for proper accountability is clarity, and a single waste disposal authority creates a clear line of accountability for waste processing and disposal. The Mayor would be directly accountable to Londoners and to Government for the processing and disposal of their waste, and boroughs would be accountable to the Mayor and residents for ensuring that recycling and collection services are integrated with strategic disposal needs. That can be contrasted with current arrangements, whereby the joint waste disposal authorities, which collectively manage 60 to 70 per cent. of London’s waste and spend vast sums of money, are not directly accountable to the people whom they purport to serve. They are little better than quangos and just as elusive in accountability terms. I would hazard a guess that most Londoners have heard of the Mayor, whether favourably or unfavourably, and have a pretty good idea of what he is responsible for and what they can do if they do not like it. I doubt very much, however, whether Londoners could tell us much about the Western Riverside waste authority or the East London waste authority—including the increasing number of Londoners who are very concerned about the climate change agenda, carbon and the contribution of all those services to that agenda.