Clause 7
Greater London Authority Bill
12:00 pm
Tom Brake (Shadow Minister, Department for Communities and Local Government; Carshalton and Wallington, Liberal Democrat)
The Great London Authority Act 1999 provides that the assembly is responsible for appointing staff to the authority, including those responsible for the three distinct roles of setting the establishment, agreeing staffing-related policies and procedures and appointing staff. In practice, assembly members are not involved directly in the appointment of staff other than to senior posts within the secretariat, the statutory officers, and director-level appointments across the rest of the authority. This highlights an important distinction in respect of the staffing establishment—the creation and deletion of positions—and the appointment of staff, filling the posts that have already been created on the staff establishment. The Bill would transfer responsibility for creating and deleting posts and appointing staff to those posts—apart from the head of paid service, the statutory finance officer and the monitoring officer who would be appointed jointly by the Mayor and assembly—from the London Assembly to the Greater London Authority’s head of paid service.
Amendments Nos. 56 and 57 would, if amendments Nos. 39 or 40 were not accepted, amend the Bill to put in place safeguards requiring the head of paid service to consult the Mayor and assembly before taking decisions relating to the establishment of the authority, and prevent the head of paid service from delegating his functions in relation to the creation and deletion of posts to any other officer of the authority. The assembly unanimously supports the introduction of these safeguards, so again the Minister is in a position where amendments are being put forward with the full support of all parties on the assembly. Clearly, GLA members will look carefully at this debate to see why, if the Minister chooses to refuse these amendments, he has taken that position.
The head of paid service must be placed under a statutory duty to consult the London assembly and the Mayor in advance of any decision on the creation and deletion of posts within the authority's staffing establishment. That would ensure that the head of paid service has regard to the views of the Mayor and assembly, and is accountable to them for his decisions. It would also ensure that the current degree of transparency in decision making about staffing policies and procedures, and the size and functions of the establishment, is retained.
The head of paid service should not be allowed to delegate his powers relating to the creation and deletion of posts in the authority. The power so to delegate could result in a diffusion of responsibility and accountability, as well as potentially making the decision-making process less transparent. If the Government choose not to accept amendments Nos. 56 and 57, amendment No. 40 would maintain the status quo so that the assembly remained responsible for staffing matters within the authority—with the exception of the head of paid service, the statutory finance officer and monitoring officer, who would be jointly appointed by the Mayor and assembly.
When the Minister responds, he thus has two options. He, or the Minister for Housing and Planning, whom I welcome to the Front Bench, could opt to explain why the status quo is not favoured when it provides certain safeguards but does not stop the Mayor and the authority functioning effectively. The Minister for Housing and Planning could say why she is unhappy with those present arrangements; she also has the opportunity to explain why she is not supporting safeguards that could be put in place when this change, if it occurs, will see the head of paid service take responsibility for staff. I will listen carefully to the Minister’s reply, and hold fire until I have heard that, before seeing how I want to proceed with these particular amendments.