Clause 33 - Application to Greater London Authority
Local Government Bill
8:55 am
Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State (Local and Regional Government), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Greenwich and Woolwich, Labour)
Clause 33 slightly adapts the grant-making power in clause 31 for the purpose of the GLA. It takes account of the special relationship of the authority with its four functional bodies and acknowledges the central role of the Mayor in the GLA structure.
Amendment No. 86 would prevent the new power from being used to support the London Underground PPP. As the hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton will recall from his time serving on the Committee that considered the Greater London Authority Bill, we already have the power under section 101 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 to provide financial support for the tube when it transfers to Transport for London ownership, so we would not expect to need to use the new power for that purpose, and we certainly have no intention of bailing out the PPP, which will achieve substantial investment for improving the much-neglected infrastructure of the London underground. However, I do not intend to debate that now.
We want to retain some discretion in the matter because we might conceivably need the flexibility that the new power will allow. The amendment could have unforeseen and unfortunate consequences. For example, the Government might use the new power to support a London borough's initiative to reduce crime in the vicinity of its local underground station. Measures could well include the installation of CCTV cameras on London Underground property itself. The most practical option might be for the PPP contractors to do the work under a variation to their contracts, in return for some share of the grant. The amendment would make that impossible, which is why we do not want to accept it, although I can give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that he seeks that there is no intention to use the provision as a main source of funding for the PPP, for which it is not necessary in any case, as the PPP is a financial arrangement in its
own right, with its own grant-making powers available to the Government.
The arrangements in the clause do not disadvantage the bodies at all. It would not be possible for the Mayor to divert resources in a way that would be contrary to the intentions of Ministers, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will recognise the good sense of retaining the Bill as currently drafted, which is designed to cope with the special and different circumstances of the GLA. I hope that he will withdraw his amendment.