PROCEDURE FOR REQUIRING ATTENDANCE (Hansard, 8 November 1999)

§ Mr. Raynsford
I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 103 to 114, 118 to 123 and 158.

§ Mr. Raynsford
The amendments appear complex, but I am pleased to be able to reassure the House that their appearance is deceptive. Amendment No. 95 simply anticipates an amendment to clause 61, which removes the requirement to call the head of paid service the chief administrative officer.
Amendments Nos. 121 and 123 would clarify the respective roles of the mayor and the Assembly in the provision of resources for the head of paid service and the monitoring officer. The amendments would provide for the mayor to provide accommodation and other resources for the two officers, and for the Assembly to provide their staff.
Amendments Nos. 118, 122 and 158 provide for the head of paid service, the monitoring officer and the chief finance officer to be appointed as members of staff under the provisions of clause 56(2) of the Bill. That prevents those offices being held by staff appointed by the mayor. The procedures for handling reports submitted to the Authority by either the head of paid service or the monitoring officer are also provided for in the amendments.
The provision in the Bill requiring the head of paid service should be known as the chief administrative officer has been criticised as being unduly prescriptive. We agree, so the requirement would be deleted by amendment No. 120.
718 Amendments Nos. 103 to 105 are drafting amendments that would reinforce the need for the Assembly to consult the mayor about the appointments of GLA staff which he or she has made, prior to making its own appointments.
Amendment No. 106 disapplies the provisions of section 9 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, which would impose restrictions on the remuneration that could be paid to the mayor's political advisers. Amendment No. 107 is a consequential amendment.
Amendment No. 108 adds the London development agency to the list of bodies which are to be treated as a local authority for the purposes of the politically restricted posts provisions of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. Amendment No. 109 deletes references to the Metropolitan police authority and the London fire and emergency planning authority, because they are already covered by the 1989 Act.
Amendments Nos. 110 to 112 are drafting amendments, designed to make it clear that, when the mayor appoints one of his or her staff to the board of either the London development agency or Transport for London, it will be on an unpaid basis.
Amendments Nos. 113 and 114 apply the provisions of Section 2 of the 1989 Act to the chief finance officer of Transport for London and the chief executive of the London development agency.