NEITHER THE MAYOR NOR THE PROFITS WILL BE IN OUR POCKET

Simon Jenkins in the Standard yesterday expressed severe reservations about the powers that the Greater London Authority Bill will vest in the new Mayor of London to improve the capital. JOHN PRESCOTT, Deputy Prime Minister and architect of the new legislation, replies From yesterday's Evening Standard

THE GOVERNMENT'S Bill to establish a Mayor and Assembly for London has passed its first Parliamentary hurdle with ease - 396 votes to 140. A clear mandate for change following the overwhelming "yes" vote in last May's referendum.

But some commentators have questioned whether it really gives London what it wants and needs, suggesting that the Mayor will be under Whitehall's thumb. This is rubbish. We are implementing the most radical constitutional reforms this century; this includes our changes for London. The London Mayor, democratically elected to represent five million London voters, will be a force to be reckoned with. The Bill provides for an enormous devolution of power from central government. The Mayor, not the Government, will run transport in London, to name but one example. The Mayor's budget will be several billion pounds, the vast majority of which comes from central government. And he or she will have sweeping powers to improve London's air quality and tackle poverty and deprivation. Two main criticisms have been made of the Bill and I want to dispel them here and now. Firstly, it has been suggested that Government will pocket the proceeds from the proposed "congestion charging" regime. Nonsense. I can reassure Londoners that every single penny of the money raised by this scheme for at least 10 years will be spent on transport in London in support of the Mayor's transport strategy. Not a penny will come to central government. Simon Jenkins claims that Gordon Brown and I are at loggerheads on this. Not so. Let the Treasury speak for itself. Only last week Stephen Byers said that he was delighted to confirm that for the first time all the proceeds from approved pilot charging schemes would go back to worthwhile local transport improvements. After 10 years we will review the policy, but that is surely sensible. We have achieved a major breakthrough by guaranteeing that 100 per cent of the proceeds will be recycled into transport in London - reversing years of public finance theology. Some Tories have also accused us of being control freaks - reserving powers to central government. This is a bit rich coming from the most centralist Government in recent history and one that abolished the GLC! And in the cases that have been cited - for example the restraints on the general power of the Authority - this is clearly wrong. The Bill gives the Mayor the power to improve the quality of life of Londoners and do whatever is needed to promote their economic, social and environmental wellbeing. This is an innovative, powerful and very wide-ranging role for the Mayor. Naturally, the Bill also needs to avoid duplication of power in areas which are the responsibility of the London boroughs, or other public organisations. No one can disagree with that. OUR intention in this Bill is to create a radical new form of city-wide governance with a powerful elected Mayor who can tackle London's problems; a Mayor who will have the power and resources to improve London's public transport system so that people want to use it instead of their cars. The new investment, which will be delivered through the Public Private Partnership and through congestion charging, will deliver real improvements to public transport. A great deal needs to be done to provide a world class system for governing London. This Bill provides the means to do just that. I am grateful for the very widespread support that we have received for giving Londoners back their voice both from the people of London and the Evening Standard, too. -

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