Greater London Authority Bill

My Lords, I hope that I can respond quickly to this positive short debate. I thank noble Lords for raising these points initially in Committee. As we have just heard, the Government support Amendments Nos. 59 and 62, tabled by the noble Baronesses, Lady Hamwee and Lady Miller, which is why my noble friend Lady Andrews has added her name to them. The provisions in Clauses 38 and 39 require the Mayor when considering whether or how to exercise the GLA’s general power, and in preparing and revising his strategies, to have regard to climate change and the consequences of climate change. It is sensible that in exercising these functions the Mayor has regard to the global, broader picture of climate change and is not restricted to how far it relates to Greater London. Although we discussed the importance of the points made, we cannot accept Amendments Nos. 60 and 63. Amendment No. 60 would require the GLA to exercise its general power in a way best calculated to contribute to the mitigation of or adaptation to climate change generally or globally. Similarly, Amendment No. 63 would require the Mayor to include policies and proposals in his strategies that contributed to the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change globally. The amendments would cast the scope of this duty too widely. We believe that it would be more reasonable for the Mayor to exercise these functions that are limited to Greater London in a way that contributed to climate change mitigation and adaptation nationally—as relates to the United Kingdom—which is what government Amendments Nos. 61 and 64 aim to achieve. As I said, the Government support the principle behind the noble Baroness’s amendments, but we hope that she will feel able not to press them but to support the Government’s approach through Amendments Nos. 61 and 64. On the questions raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, it is tempting to be facetious about the position of London in the UK: it is a city in the middle. To be clear about the Mayor’s role in terms of his strategy and general power, we have tried to set that out in the next group of amendments. I do not believe that this Bill is about creating additional powers for the Mayor that will impact on the rest of the UK. We are talking about the role that the Mayor can play through his functions and powers in London and the contribution that he can make to achieving wider goals in a national climate change strategy. I hope that that answers the noble Baroness’s point.