§ 6. Mr. Clive Efford (Eltham)Pursuant to chapter 3 of the White Paper on "A Mayor and Assembly for London", if he will make a statement on arrangements for ensuring public accountability of the mayor and assembly. [39509]
§ The Minister for London and Construction (Mr. Nick Raynsford)The mayor and assembly will be accountable to Londoners through the ballot box. To strengthen public accountability, the mayor will hold a monthly assembly question time, twice-yearly people's question times and an annual state of London debate. The assembly will hold the mayor to account, hold its meetings in public and publish its papers and reports.
§ Mr. EffordDoes my hon. Friend accept that the current situation in London is unacceptable; that too many individuals and quangos are spending public money for which there is no accountability? Does he further accept that the new arrangements for a mayor and an assembly will make such expenditure publicly accountable and make those people directly accountable to the people of London through the democratic process?
§ Mr. RaynsfordMy hon. Friend is right. The previous Government abolished democratic citywide government in London and replaced it with a raft of unaccountable quangos. We are restoring to the people of London the democratic right to elect their own citywide mayor and authority and ensuring that decisions are taken in an accountable framework and that quangos are brought back within democratic control exactly in line with the principle of accountability my hon. Friend espouses.
§ Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood)If, as seems likely, a large number of Londoners register on Thursday their lack of confidence in the accountability of the new mayor by not bothering to vote—by a large electoral yawn—will not it be because they do not believe that there will be any sufficient mechanism either to bring the mayor to account or even to replace him or fire him if he is not up to the job? By what means will a corrupt or ineffectual mayor be replaced?
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe hon. Gentleman gives little credit to the electorate if he believes that the principle of democratic accountability is ultimately flawed. We do not 551 believe that; we believe that the people should decide and that if they are dissatisfied with the mayor they should get rid of the mayor—[HoN. MEMBERS: "How?"] By the ballot box, which is the best and most effective way to achieve accountability. I hope that on Thursday the people of London will give a resounding endorsement to the Government's plans for a mayor and an assembly for London.