Greater London Authority Bill

I hope that I can reassure the Committee on the important points raised. I shall speak in support of the Questions that these clauses shall stand part of the Bill. Clause 25 gives the Mayor wider powers in the appointment of LFEPA members. At present the Mayor is accountable for the budget of LFEPA but, beyond that, has little influence over the work of the authority. This clause helps to redress that situation by enabling him to appoint two members to the 17-strong board through his own nomination. That will strengthen the effectiveness of the board in determining fire and rescue related issues. I fully recognise the noble Lord’s point that in the past seven years LFEPA has been very effective in running the London Fire Brigade and driving forward the numerous and far-reaching modernisation changes required under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 and the subsequent national frameworks. Indeed, the 2006-07 performance assessment results for the fire and rescue service, published by the Audit Commission at the beginning of April, assessed LFEPA as improving well upon its 2005 rating of ““good””. It awarded LFEPA an overall service assessment score of level 3, which is defined as, "““Performing well—consistently above minimum requirements””." I applaud LFEPA’s performance in that respect. However, a good performance hitherto does not mean that there is not scope for making things even more effective. Allowing the Mayor to nominate two members of the board will not only provide him with a degree of influence that his budgetary responsibilities merit—in tandem with Clause 27, to which I shall refer—but will provide wider stakeholder membership of the authority. To cover the point made by the noble Baroness, it is envisaged that the Mayor might nominate representatives of interests such as the business community, minority ethnic groups or people with relevant fire and resilience experience. Such appointments should enable even greater effectiveness in operational delivery and ensure a more robust governance structure for the implementation of the integrated risk management plan, known as the London safety plan, which determines the measures to be taken to protect London and its communities. Clause 26 lifts the prohibition on Assembly Members who are also a chair or vice-chair of LFEPA from receiving allowances for carrying out their roles. We discussed the principle behind this amendment during our debate on Clause 19. We believe that this change is entirely justified given the heavy workloads that chairs and vice-chairs of the authority bear. It implements a recommendation made by the Senior Salaries Review Body in 2005. The noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, and the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, oppose this clause, but that would create inconsistency in the legislation. It would surely be inappropriate to remove the new arrangements for LFEPA while keeping them for the LDA and TfL. Clause 27 provides power for the Mayor, under new Section 328A of the 1999 Act, to issue directions and guidance to LFEPA, consistent with the Fire and Rescue National Framework and subject to the Secretary of State’s reserve powers. The clause also includes a power for the Secretary of State, in new Section 328B of the 1999 Act, to direct the Mayor to revise or revoke guidance or directions given to LFEPA when he considers that they are inconsistent with the Fire and Rescue National Framework or fire safety enforcement guidance. I have already referred to the Mayor’s position of responsibility for LFEPA’s budget while having little say in its strategic leadership. The new provisions will give the Mayor more influence over delivery while ensuring the arrangements for LFEPA remain broadly compatible with those for fire and rescue authorities elsewhere. They will enable the Mayor to exercise greater influence over the authority and, where necessary, direct it on operational and non-operational matters for greater efficiency. Such matters might include measures to ensure greater equality and diversity in its workforce or to have regard to the wider GLA environmental agenda, or the relocation of fire-fighting appliances to areas of greater risk in London, where it is supported by the risk management plan. The proposals will therefore reflect his mandate as an elected citywide Mayor. The majority of LFEPA members will be elected. The clause provides the opportunity for the beneficial addition of relevant experience and expertise, and I do not accept that, given the injection of this wider representation, the loss of one borough member will have a negative effect on LFEPA’s community role. Furthermore, the London Assembly has the power of scrutiny over LFEPA, thus providing a further democratic safeguard. The noble Lord, Lord Tope, referred to the Metropolitan Police Authority. Similar arrangements for its chairs and deputy chairs who are Assembly Members by regulations made under the Police and Justice Act 2006. They will be made in 2008 in time for the Mayor’s powers of appointment to kick in.