City Hall Relocation

The GLA Oversight Committee investigated the relocation of City Hall and wrote to the Mayor of London highlighting concerns about the process. It also made some recommendations going forward to prevent similar issues in the future.

The recommendations include:

• Decision making at the GLA must be based on robust financial analysis. The GLA, including the Mayor’s Office, must adopt a more open and transparent approach to the communication of savings. The true savings have been established as £37 million over a five-year period and this figure should be used in all future communications from the Mayor and GLA.
• The Committee encourages the Mayor to publish redacted versions of the detail to the Mayoral Decision on the settlement of dilapidation costs with More London (MD2843) to support open and transparent decision making at the GLA.
• In future staff welfare should be a key consideration when trialling new facilities.
• There is a continuing lack of engagement with the London Assembly on key issues that impact its work which must be addressed going forward.
• The Committee would like to understand what early planning the GLA is doing now in advance of the end of the lease at Union Street to ensure a similar situation is avoided.