Boris Johnson’s chief exec is stepping up plans to steamroller the independence of the London Assembly - the body set up to scrutinise the Mayor & Executive.
The independence of the London Assembly is under threat following the revelation that Boris Johnson placeman Leo Boland, chief executive of the Greater London Authority, is seeking powers “to monitor and review all official scrutiny reports produced by the Assembly”.
Documents leaked to journalist and blogger Tory Troll state that Mr Boland wishes to:
“Review draft scrutiny reports before their publication for the purposes of providing quality control and oversight of the written output from the Authority.
“This opportunity for review would be personal to the Chief Executive and would not be delegated to any other officer.”
His justification for this is:
(a). “It would provide the Chief Executive with direct oversight and input into the quality of scrutiny reports.”
(b). “The Chief Executive would be aware of reports before their publication, and would be able to anticipate any potential issues of conflict or controversy.”
Such measures, if approved, would appear to call into question the very purpose of the legislature – as set out in its Mission Statement, which reads:
“The London Assembly holds the Mayor of London to account and investigates issues that matter to Londoners. Its 25 members are elected at the same time as the Mayor.
“The Assembly works by directly questioning the Mayor about his activities, strategies and decisions. It also publishes the findings and recommendations from its investigations and makes proposals to the Mayor.”
13 Responses to “Boris adviser’s secret plans to crush Assembly’s independence”
Shamik Das
RT @leftfootfwd: Boris adviser’s secret plans to crush Assembly’s independence: http://is.gd/4YT6Y <— Stalinists!
Adam Bienkov
RT @leftfootfwd Boris adviser’s secret plans to crush Assembly’s independence: http://is.gd/4YT6Y
Blah
He is the Chief Executive and not an advisor. Why don’t the posts on the site ever portray stories accurately?
Shamik Das
The chief exec of the GLA, brought in by Boris at great expense (see Tory Troll’s piece for more). I would suggest that not only does he advise the Mayor but that he has a great deal of influence over him.
Balham Bugle
I thought this blog was supposed to be evidence-based. I don’t see the Assembly mentioned in any of the quotes included in the story, only the Authority. Where’s the evidence?
Indeed, how would the Mayor or his Chief Executive enforce such an alleged desire as it would require legislative change?