MD2043 A city for all Londoners, statutory strategies

Draft statutory strategies and plans (“the strategies”) under section 41 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (“GLA Act, as amended) will not be ready for public and stakeholder consultation until spring/summer 2017, given the rigorous processes that accompany their preparation. The strategies of the previous Mayoralty require revision to reflect the Mayor’s changed priorities.

The purpose of A city for all Londoners is to set out an overarching narrative about the Mayor’s emerging policies for the Mayoralty and to indicate a direction of travel for the development of policies that will later inform the preparation of those strategies. The document will communicate to stakeholders how the Mayor intends to tackle London’s major challenges (subject to consultation and preparation of those strategies) and undertake early engagement and consultation that will feed into that process. It will also act as a coordination tool to draw together separate policy areas and help avoid ‘siloed’ policy making.

It is proposed that A city for all Londoners is published by the Mayor on 24 October 2016 for seven weeks consultation. (A copy is at Annex 1 of this Form which is deferred from publication until the consultation launch.)

The current suite of strategies required by section 41 of the GLA Act (the London Plan, and the following strategies: transport, economic development, environment, housing, health inequalities and culture) date from the previous administration and do not reflect the Mayor’s policies and priorities. In addition, as A city for all Londoners sets out, there have been significant developments since those strategies and plans were last formally revised. The Mayor is under a duty to keep the strategies under review. Therefore it is appropriate in the circumstances that the Mayor confirms it is his intention to review them and that the publication of A city for all Londoners is a step in that process. It also provides as an early indication of his policy position on the matters covered by the document.

Policy areas include:
• Accommodating growth
• Housing
• Economy
• Environment, transport and public space
• Social integration

The objectives of publishing A city for all Londoners are to:
• To indicate to stakeholders the Mayor’s direction of travel on a range of policy issues.
• To conduct early consultation – which will feed into and enrich the policy making process in the subsequent statutory plans and strategies.

Early work on a comprehensive Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) for all strategies is already underway and has informed early policy making in A city for all Londoners. This assessment work includes the Mayor’s duties under the public sector Equality Duty (s 149 of the Equality Act 2010) which requires him to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. IIAs will be produced alongside the full draft strategies. The Equality Duty will be taken into account as and when the final approved strategies are implemented.

Key risks and issues
The main risk associated with the project is delay. If it is not published in the autumn, it could delay the policy development of the strategies (or mean that insufficient ‘pre-consultation’ is undertaken).

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
This document is intrinsically linked to the development of revised Mayoral strategies and priorities.

Impact assessments and consultations
A city for all Londoners will be launched by the Mayor on 24 October 2016 and subject to public and stakeholder until 11 December 2016. Respondents will be able to provide their views on the document until 11 December 2016.

IIAs will be prepared in due course for the draft strategies prepared, and be available for public and stakeholder consultation.

In 2016/17, a budget of up to £750,000 is available for the statutory strategies - to cover Integrated Impact Assessments and some consultation work (required for the full, separate strategies). The costs of the ‘precursor’ document are covered by this budget and should not exceed £60,000 – to cover design (up to £5,000) and consultation (up to £55,000). The budget is held by the Governance team.

The Mayor is under a duty to keep his strategies under review and to make such revisions as he considers necessary (s 41(2) GLA Act). When deciding whether or not to revise a strategy he must have regard to the need to ensure they are consistent with national policies and the UK’s EU obligations, that they continue to be consistent with one another, the resources available for their implementation and the use of the River Thames (where appropriate).

A city for all Londoners is not itself a draft strategy but is a preliminary document for the purpose of developing priorities and policies that will find their way into the draft strategies that the public and stakeholders will be consulted on as part of the formal strategy preparation process. This is authorised by sections 30, 41 and 34 of the GLA Act.