My Lords, I will also speak to Amendment 75C. In doing so, I return to the issue of devolution for London. Following our brief debate at the conclusion of consideration in Committee, we have now tabled two more detailed amendments in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Beecham and the noble Lord, Lord Tope, whose experience of the London local government scene is second to none—in parallel of course with the noble Lord, Lord True. These amendments have been drafted by London Councils. We thank the Minister for facilitating the meeting after Committee, which included a representative of London Councils. We understand that there may have been other meetings as well. It is hoped that these have helped establish a consensus around what is required in terms of additional devolution for London and how that might be delivered. We are advised that over the last year London boroughs and the Mayor of London have worked together to develop ambitious plans for further devolution to London. Yesterday, at a meeting of the London Congress, London’s elected leaders endorsed a proposition for London that set out proposals for devolution and public service reform in relation to employment, skills, business support, crime and justice, health and housing. Each of these areas represents a key challenge facing London. Indeed, some touch on two of the most critical issues facing the country over the next five years: improving productivity and boosting the supply of housing across all tenures. The approach to each is underpinned by the belief that London, like other cities, should have significant responsibilities devolved from the national level in order to develop locally led responses to its most pressing issues.
London’s current government arrangements work well, with London boroughs and the Mayor possessing distinct executive powers, but maintaining a successful strategic partnership. However, it is considered that further devolution to London will require new decision-making arrangements at both pan-London and sub-regional level. Further, London Councils points to a need to explore which elements are likely to require under-pinning in order to meet the standards of accountability expected of government in respect of process and funding.
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During the debate in Committee, we were encouraged by the comment from the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, to explore these issues in more detail and further probe the Government’s thinking. As I said, we thank her for facilitating the meeting. At the request of London Councils, we have tabled two probing amendments that set out the thinking in more detail and seek to explore where statutory underpinning in support of further devolution might be needed.
The new clause in Amendment 75C has been tabled to provide a basis for debating the need to create an enabling provision for operational delegation to groups of boroughs in London. To be clear, this has not been drafted with a view to its being included in the Bill as worded, but with the aim of securing the Minister’s reassurance that existing provisions will meet the tests of government for delegation to groups of London authorities in London.
In particular, London Councils is concerned about what, if any, underpinning may be required if there is a view that existing provision is insufficient to support ministerial delegation to joint committees formed under Section 101(5) of the Local Government Act 1972. Boroughs in London are not permitted authorities for the purposes of delegation under Section 16(1) of the Localism Act 2011 and cannot take on the functions of other public bodies. Existing borough groupings are already pushing up against the limits of what can be achieved using existing voluntary arrangements.
Subsection (1) of the new clause in Amendment 75C would provide for a joint committee of London boroughs to be able to request in writing to the Secretary of State arrangements for the delegation to it of a function of a Minister or of a government department. These arrangements might reasonably include conditions on the exercise and applicable geography of a delegated function. They might also cover provision relating to revocation of a delegation and strengthening existing provisions requiring any decision by the committee to be passed by a simple majority. The amendment is not prescriptive and invites a Government response about what, if anything, is needed legislatively to make such arrangements as proposed. Subsection (2) requires that any request made under subsection (1) must have the support of all members of the joint committee making the request. Similarly, subsection (5) states that no delegation or variation can be made under subsection (1) without the agreement of all constituent members of the joint committee. Taken together, subsections (1), (2) and (5) set a triple lock on the use
of provisions within the clause. This would respect the need to balance the efficacy of joint arrangements with the sovereignty of local borough leaders.
The new clause in Amendment 75B deals with establishing a joint board for devolution to London. It explores the kind of provision that is believed to be needed in order to establish between London boroughs and the Mayor of London support for further devolution to the capital, along the lines set out and in the endorsed draft of the London proposition. As with Amendment 75C, the new clause has not been drafted to prescribe at this stage all the details of a new pan-London decision-making mechanism. Rather, it reflects the desire by London boroughs to raise the issue of London governance at a point in the Bill’s passage where appropriate reassurance and debate might be secured.
In particular, London Councils has offered this clause with a view to exploring three issues. First, there is the potential legislative presumption in favour of delegation to the mayor through Section 223 of the Localism Act 2011. In particular, joint work between London boroughs and the mayor in preparing the London proposition has underlined the need for a shared mechanism for overall steering and direction. The second issue is the extent to which it would be helpful if any delegation of functions to London recognised the collective governance of those functions by London boroughs in combination with the mayor. In particular, while it might be that a joint committee of London boroughs and the mayor proposes a partial way forward, such an approach could make boroughs reliant on entirely voluntary arrangements, particularly with regard to voting.
Specifically, London Councils is concerned that paragraph 39(1) of Schedule 12 to the Local Government Act 1972 states:
“Subject to the provisions of any enactment (including any enactment in this Act) all questions coming or arising before a local authority shall be decided by a majority of the members of the authority present and voting thereon at a meeting of the authority”.
Subsection (1) of the new clause in Amendment 75 specifies that the proposed purpose of the board is to improve statutory functions relating to economic development and public functions generally within the Greater London area. The motive for proposing such a wide-ranging purpose is to encompass the potentially broad sweep of functions that might be devolved to London as part of joint negotiations that it is understood are under way with the Government.
Subsections (2) and (3) require that the board can be established only if all the boroughs, the City of London and the Mayor of London agree. Subsection (5) states that any joint board should consist of members appointed by the board’s constituent councils and the Mayor of London. Subsection (6) proposes that details relating to a number of aspects of the board—membership voting powers, executive arrangements and so on—might be provided for in regulation. Subsections (8) and (9) propose that the power be limited so that the board cannot take on any function that is currently a function of the mayor, London boroughs or the City of London. This reflects agreement across London government that all areas of activity under the authority of either
the London mayor or London boroughs will remain separate from any partnership arrangements and decision-making on newly devolved matters.