Oysters on Toast at the Budget Committee

Yesterday's budget committee heard from TfL about the future of the Oystercard.

Over the summer, the Oyster IT system crashed three times, enabling passengers to travel for free and losing TfL a large amount of revenue. Transys, the consortium who provide Oyster under a 1998 PFI contract, paid a considerable sum in compensation. This incident just confirmed TfL's decision to retender the contract in 2010, a decision that had already gained momentum before the failures.

In future TfL will seek shorter contracts, to reflect the pace of innovation, and breaking the package up, so as to encourage specialists to take on different parts of the task. They expect to save money by avoiding expensive PFI financing, and by saving money as technology gets cheaper. They think there are around half a dozen contractors with relevant experience of providing similar technology in other cities.

Future development of Oyster also looks exciting, with plans to allow its use on river services and to enable the purchase of small items, for example coffee and newspapers, during the journey. Ultimately Oyster could be loaded onto mobile phones which would be scanned as passengers passed through platform gates.

The Oyster brand is the property of Transys, so a rebranding exercise could be necessary if agreement cannot be reached with TfL, but they do not expect this to be expensive or to disrupt journeys.

The TfL experts were very impressive, which has not always been the case...

Transport Committee

Just catching up on last week's transport committee which agreed the future work programme and examined the thorny issue of train overcrowding.

20 mph Zones

Some boroughs reportedly want to introduce 20mph zones for all their roads - Lewisham is a prime suspect - but TfL won't provide them with the money. To have some boroughs adopt this whilst others make no changes seems crazy to me, actually I can't see why anyone would want to do it, because getting from A to B takes long enough now, but Jenny Jones is going to do an investigation into the possibilities. That is a bit like asking Dracula to investigate vegetarianism, but we await her conclusions with interest...

Cross River Tram

The report on last month's hearing was agreed by majority although the committee did note that the Conservative group think it is an unduly expensive scheme, probably unaffordable in the current financial climate, even if TfL does get its money back from Iceland.

Train Overcrowding

The committee heard from passenger representatives on suggestions to beat overcrowding on main line routes. The problem is particularly bad south of the river in places where the tubes don't go. One suggestion is to stop more of the express trains at inner London stations, which would help to spread the load but would slow the network down. Another idea is to abolish first class for commuter - as opposed to inter city - services. This seems like a good idea to me, as hardly anyone uses the first class sections whilst the rest of the train is like a sardine can. Often the only people in first class seem to be fare dodgers and other anti socials who see it as a way to raise two fingers to the rest of us.

we will be hearing from train operators next month.

Oxford Street

Victoria Borwick has asked to do a piece of work on the 'bus jam' in Oxford Street, looking at ways to free up road space and improve service times. This is not an easy problem to solve, but rerouting some services and turning others at each end of the street should be considered.

Congratulations

My fellow ward councillor in Elm Park, David Grantham, got married yesterday to Edwina. The service and reception were held at the Elvetham Hotel near Fleet. As a determinedly single person, I have great respect and admiration for people who make such a solemn and open ended commitment to one another.

I wish Mr and Mrs Grantham all the best for their future together.

Mayor's Question Time

Question Time this morning, and my first outing as group leader, although I have acted in the role on past occasions. The Labour people went racing off and used up their allotted time more quickly than usual, with the result that we got through all of our Conservative questions at a leisurely pace towards the end of the session.

The meeting attracted a packed audience for once, but we soon discovered that protesting tube cleaners - well their representatives anyway - had infiltrated. They interrupted twice, calling the mayor a liar and causing suspension of proceedings whilst they were persuaded to leave. Their tactics don't do much credit to their cause.


Bendy Buses

Labour and the Greens seem to be setting up a bendy bus preservation society (same members as the Ian Blair fan club), judging by today's efforts to force the mayor to keep the articulated monsters. I don't think it will catch on - no calls for a 'heritage route' using bendys for tourists, no requests from members of the public to buy a bendy for the back garden. Boris is adamant that we will see the back of these vehicles.


Economy of London

There was a lot of agonising about the future, diversifying beyond financial services, avoiding knee jerk regulation. Boris was quite upbeat, assuring us that the TfL investment programme - most especially Crossrail - would not suffer.


Traffic Lights

Richard Tracey sought a faster rephasing programme, reducing red phases and clearing some of the unnecessary jams. Other members had pleas of their own and the mayor agreed to press TfL for action, even considering the removal of traffic signals completely in some locations. With the lights at Admiralty Arch on green for just 8 seconds - blink and you miss it - a guaranteed minimum green phase somewhat longer than that would be considered for the capital.


Buses in Oxford Street

Victoria Borwick sought measures to reduce the permanent bus jam in Oxford Street. Perhaps some routes can be diverted, others might be terminated at each end of the street, after all this part of the route can't be helping their overall reliability.


Olympic Costs

Revelations that the contingency fund has already been dipped into after the athletes' village ran into credit crunch trouble. Everyone tries to put a brave face on it, especially Livingstone who was back in his customary place in the public gallery.

Audit Panel Reviews the Last Days of Livingstone

Not quite the highly publicised 'forensic audit', but the Assembly's own audit panel met this afternoon. On the agenda was a selection of dispassionate audit reports which gave a snapshot of the situation at City Hall in April, May and June this year. They show some of the chaos that greeted the new administration:

Budgetary Control

A random sample picked up the fact that two out of five budget holding managers could not gain access to vital monitoring information on the accounts database, which didn't seem to be a problem in those plentiful times. In the case of virements from one budget to another, a random sample found that two in ten had not been instigated by the budget holder. The system has now been made more accountable.

Older Peoples' Strategy

This Livingstone creation was managed by an 'advisory group' which had not met since April 2007! Auditors felt there was no clear view as to the role of the group, perhaps not surprisingly as no terms of reference could be found. Their 'action plan' had not been updated since September 2006. Nobody at the audit panel knew who the Chairman of the panel was, or the names of its members. This looks like a candidate for the current mayor's savings drive - after all, we won't miss what we've never had...

Accessible Communications

Weren't accessible, not clear on the website, or at the front desk. The 'Accessible Communications Working Group' had no terms of reference and had not reviewed the policy, but at least they had met, albeit 'irregularly'.

If you are going to boast that you provide translations into different languages and braille, it is inexcusable to fail to do so. Improvements have been promised and we will be reviewing progress in January.

Mobile Phones and Electronic Devices

Keeping track of these had been difficult, particularly in the days following the election. We were assured that all the ex advisors and members had now returned the GLA's equipment, after prompting in a few cases.

Bloomberg in London

Last night I was in the audience to hear the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg. Much of his speech and the questions, was dominated by the financial crisis currently engulfing both cities. Bloomberg;'s view is that there is no point trying to apportion blame when we should be working to solve the problem, however he did identify some practices which should not have been allowed to happen.

The selling on of debt, so that a creditor would eventually find they were owed by an organisation with no means to pay, was identified as a key problem. Likewise the practice of credit referencing agencies also providing consultancy on how to improve ratings to the same customers, was seen as a clash of interest. It's all too obvious in hindsight and I find it amazing that financial experts and supposedly bright - and well rewarded - professionals failed to spot these weaknesses developing.

Sack the managers, let the shareholders fall, but protect the customers, was Bloomberg's view.

The question of policing was also raised. Bloomberg has the power to hire and fire the police commissioner in New York and he was clear that London's Mayor should have the same power. There has been a lot of griping about 'politicising the police' lately, but of course it is the same people who want to bring 'democratic accountability' to the Met, and the two positions conflict because democracy cannot exist without politics.

The Birmingham Experience

Just back from the Conservative Party Conference, hosted by Birmingham for the first time in 75 years. No doubt different views will be expressed but I thought the venue was a huge improvement on previous seaside experiences. I had the best hotel room ever at a party conference (admittedly the standard is usually poor), which is important when you are speaking at meetings and networking. Being fresh and alert is vital and a clean, comfortable room is a big help.

The conference centre and hotel were confusing, but this is to be expected at a new venue. I got lost around the Bournemouth ICC at my first conference and the Blackpool Winter Gardens were always a maze. The hall was too small for many of the debates, so I hope we can use the larger Symphony Hall when we return in two years (this room was used for Cameron's address).


London Assembly Conservatives' Fringe Meeting

We hosted a lunchtime 'meet London Influentials' event which was very well attended, with two full sessions and a queue out of the door. The 'influentials' were mostly AMs but we also had blogger Guido Fawkes as a special guest. The format was based on speed dating where - I'm told - small groups get four minutes to question their guest before a whistle blows and the guests move to new groups. The atmosphere was lively and exciting, so expect to see this format used more widely in future. It really made a difference from all the 'sit, listen to speeches, and ask questions' meetings taking place elsewhere. Many thanks to Canary Wharf who sponsored our event.


Thames Gateway

I spoke at a lunchtime session on the Thames Gateway, alongside shadow minister Stewart Jackson MP, Lorraine Baldry and Theo Steel. Stewart caused some alarm when he said that spending on gateway projects needed to be audited for value by an incoming Conservative government, but in the current financial straits he is absolutely right. Every penny will need to be accounted for to ensure a return, and what a shame that it takes a financial crisis to restore what should be basic fiscal discipline.

I got a hard time over the 'Boris Island' airport study, which is attracting opposition from Kent and Essex authorities even before it is off the drawing board. Clearly the views of local people will need to figure strongly in any research which is done on this project.


Resilience and Flooding

I also appeared, alongside shadow resilience minister, Pauline Neville Jones, at a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) fringe meeting where designing buildings to resist attack was debated. Pauline is an expert on security issues so I stayed away from that topic and discussed the flood threat to London, which I do know a bit about.

The audience were quite technical and there were speakers from the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) and RIBA as well. RIBA are hosting a competition to design a flood resistant home and I'm looking forward to seeing the result of this exercise.


So now it's back to City Hall, with the words of David and Boris ringing in our ears. This party is looking more and more like a government in waiting.

Olympic Flag Flies at City Hall

Fantastic weather yesterday morning for the official flag raising on the Potter's Field. The two Olympic flags and the Union Flag were raised by our successful athletes after introductory speeches from Seb Coe, Tessa Jowell and Boris.

The Mayor was particularly keen to emphasise the limited nature of the Olympic budget. Not a penny more than the £9.3 billion already earmarked for the project, would be spent. As the flags rose, so did Tower Bridge - a nice touch.

With me in the picture is my excellent deputy, James Cleverly AM. Interesting that we are the two Conservative AMs who blog regularly.

New Sub Surface Trains

This morning I viewed a mock up of the new rolling stock which will run on the Metropolitan Line from 2010. The trains have lower floors to improve wheelchair access and more space for expected passenger growth.

Coaches are equipped with CCTV as standard as well as large indicators to provide passenger information. These will be particularly useful on the Metropolitan and District lines where trains serve several different destinations - and as someone who went to Shenfield after boarding the wrong train from Liverpool Street yesterday, I feel you can't provide too much detail for passengers...

New Conservative Group Officers at City Hall

Following today's group meeting, the new officer team are:

Leader: Roger Evans AM

Deputy Leader: James Cleverly AM

Whip: Dick Tracey AM

The group recorded its thanks to outgoing leader, Richard Barnes, who took us through the successful election in the Spring and has now moved on to devote his time to the duties of Deputy Mayor.

Freewheel 2008

Here is another example of how the tone of London government has changed for the better.

Today saw Freewheel 2008, the cycling festival, take to the streets of the capital. Under Ken the event was originally branded as 'Car Free Day' and its prime purpose seemed to be to bring disruption and discord to the streets. There was much anti motorist propaganda, as well as an anti globalisation 'reclaim the streets' undertone and no self respecting Conservative would be seen there.

Now it has morphed into a positive celebration of cycling. The Mall was full of all kinds of bikes being ridden by all kinds of people. Families enjoyed the sun and it looked like the best attended of these events so far. Like the recent Rise Festival, nobody seemed to be missing the left wing moralising that we came to expect.

I attended to show my support, along with prospective Church End councillor, Iseult Roche, pictured above with the bicycling Mayor.

Mayors Visit Havering

Today the Mayor of Havering, Cllr John Clark, hosted a visit to the borough and tour for other civic dignitaries. The Mayor of Waltham Forest attended, as well as the Civic Ambassadors for Lewisham and Newham, and several Mayors from boroughs in Kent.

We often praise the attractions to be found in the centre of town, but it is good to be able to show off our own local gems, all of which were open to the public as part of London Open House weekend.


St Andrew's Church

Also known as the 'horned church', after a carved bull's head which adorns the gable, this was our first stop. Unusual features include a fine oak beamed roof and a stained glass window unveiled in 1991 to mark the 600th anniversary of the church. The window depicts modern icons including the Spitfire and the Ford Fiesta, which both have links with the area.


Queen's Theatre

Situated in the centre of Hornchurch, this was our next stop and the picture was taken at the front door. The theatre is supported by the local council. Backstage the preparations for this year's panto, Dick Wittington, were well under way.


Upminster Windmill

This is one of only three surviving windmills in Greater London, and the only one north of the river. The smock mill is being lovingly restored by the Friends of Upminster Windmill and the sails actually turn (they tell me). The four floors are well preserved although 'elf n' safety' is making an unwelcome intrusion.


Bedfords Park

The tour finished up with a visit to Bedfords Park, which has won a prestigious Green Flag award. Covering several hundred acres in the north of the borough, the park includes a deer enclosure with some very fine specimens.

Fire Authority - Initial Budget Skirmishes

The Fire Authority met today. Together with the Mayor's two nominees, we are one short of a majority and - as everywhere - the other three parties have ganged up, although what they plan to do with their barely held power is not yet clear.

The Chairman, Brian Coleman, made it very clear that he will be seeking a 0% increase in the authority's budget next year. Given the financial pressures on Londoners, this has to be the correct approach, but it will involve making administrative cuts and some areas e.g. the Fire Brigade Museum at Southwark, are under threat. Interestingly the Lib Dems agreed that there should be savings, so Nick Clegg's message from the seaside is being heard loud and clear.

The main grumbles from the other groups were about lack of consultation, rather than concrete alternative proposals. A long budget setting process lies ahead.


Reversing Policy

The Brigade reported an increase in traffic accidents involving fire engines. The bumps and scrapes were happening not when racing to the scene of fires, as you might expect, but when reversing! It can't be easy, reversing a large vehicle in tight spaces, but a reversing policy is being introduced to ensure good practice is followed.


New Control Centre

As part of the government's plan to modernise emergency control centres around the country, London is to get a new state of the art centre. Unfortunately the government haven't come up with the money - sounds familiar - so we need to find £10 million over the next four years. This is a serious challenge to an authority with a relatively small budget, particularly as the current control centre dates from 2003 and is not yet obsolete.

Mayor's Answers

The answers to the written questions from last week are out today:


Gants Hill Station

Roger Evans: There are still major problems with flooding at Gants Hill Station. With reference to his answer to question 0885/2008, can the Mayor update the Assembly on what progress is being made by TfL in solving this long term problem?

Boris Johnson: TfL has been investigating this issue further as water has been observed running into the subway rather than backing up through the internal drainage system. Investigative works were undertaken and TfL will update you once the causes of the flooding are known and the timetable for resolution can be determined.

Meanwhile, TfL's contractor continues to check and clear the drainage channels within the subway monthly and emergency call out arrangements have been put in place.


A12 Footbridge

Roger Evans: Will the Mayor instruct TfL to re-examine the case for the replacement of the footbridge over the A12 as my constituents find the current situation completely unacceptable?

Boris Johnson: The Mawney Road footbridge over the A12 Eastern Avenue was removed in June 2006 following a vehicle strike. Providing a modern, compliant footbridge in the same location was considered.

However, a new structure that would be compliant with current accessibility legislation cannot be physically accommodated. The requirements of footbridges to meet the needs of the mobility impaired have changed since the construction of the original bridge and now require considerably more space for ramps. A new footbridge would require compulsory purchase orders to be served on a number of properties. The preferred solution remains to provide pedestrian and cycle crossing facilities on the eastern arm of the A12 / Mawney Road signalled junction.

The surface level crossing is currently scheduled for detailed design and implementation works commencing in 2009/10 with a likely completion in 2010/11, although works to deliver the 2012 Olympic Games may mean that these dates are subject to change.


372 Bus Route

Roger Evans: What call was there for TfL to re-route the 372 bus route down residential streets and streets with no history of regular heavy vehicle traffic?

Boris Johnson: TfL has proposed that the 372 be rerouted between Hornchurch and Elm Park. However no decisions have yet been made.

TfL is aware of the concerns that some people have raised about the 372 proposal. The next step is to undertake a full public consultation and TfL is discussing this with council officers.

Mayor's Questions

First question session of the new term yesterday. I took the opportunity to raise some pressing local matters:


Gallows Corner

The Mayor undertook to ensure the fastest possible repair work on the temporary flyover, however this is not expected to be completed until Summer 2009 - an imprecise deadline, and too long in any case. I raised concerns about the inspection regime which had allowed the structure to deteriorate to such an extent, and the mayor stated that TfL are reviewing their procedures - let's hope so, as there are several other temporary flyovers elsewhere in London.

Local business organisations have recently suggested that tolls from the Dartford Crossing could be used to pay for a more robust viaduct, and the mayor was happy to support such a proposal, assuming the money could be used at Gallows Corner.


Gants Hill

During a session on climate change and over population, I took the opportunity to discuss flooding in the subways at Gants Hill - on the basis that climate change was partly responsible and would only aggravate matters. The mayor has promised to get TfL to sort out the drains - which in my opinion are a more immediate problem than climate change, and should be easier to put right (although so far that has not been the case).


Planning

I urged the mayor to focus the London plan on providing quality homes rather than high quantity, dense, blocks of tiny flats. In Havering and Redbridge we want buy to live, not buy to let.


Olympics

I congratulated the mayor on his return from Beijing and urged him to keep the cost of 2012 under control. He pledged that the bill would not rise above the £9 billion (!) agreed by the previous mayor and the government.

Tram on the Edge

Transport committee considered the arguments around the proposed Cross River Tram this morning. The debate took the form of a seminar with invited guests, and an audience of around 80 people - no mean feat considering the committee meets during working hours and the holidays are over.

Amongst those present there was clearly support for the scheme, which would see Brixton and Peckham linked by separate lines to Waterloo Bridge, the tram then crossing the river and passing through Bloomsbury to Camden. However there was a vocal minority who opposed the tram, largely because of its effects on Somers Town and Bloomsbury.

Professor Stephen Glaister, lately of the TfL board, sounded a timely warning about funding the scheme in difficult times, pointing out the need to prioritise the many projects on TfL's drawing board. Going ahead with the tram means sacrificing something else, so TfL need to be clear about the costs and benefits. Considered against other projects, the tram is looking more like the sick wildebeest lagging at the back of the herd, as another London blogger recently commented.

Following the financial problems of Croydon Tramlink, involving the private sector in a finance deal is likely to prove difficult without paying them more to shoulder the risk.

Furthermore, raising the money from public sources would also be challenging. To borrow £1 billion for instance, would incur and interest payment of £140,000 per day. To raise £1 billion from fares would entail a fare increase of 10%, on top of the increases announced last week. And the £1 billion figure is no longer academic - because TfL predict the cost of Cross River Tram to be in the region of £1.3 billion, almost double what they predicted two years ago.

With the need to tighten belts and face the recession, Cross River Tram could be a goner.


Railway Overcrowding

The committee also undertook to carry out a review of overcrowding on main line railways in London. This is a hot topic and will prove interesting, particularly as the industry cannot even agree on a definition of overcrowding.


Dial A Ride

Complaints continue to pour in about the operation of dial a ride. There are plans to open a new depot and make changes to the system in October, so the committee agreed to carry out a review in March next year - a bit late in my opinion, but better late than not at all.

Budget Committee

The Mayor appeared before Thursday's budget committee and used the opportunity to announce his fares package for the coming year. This naturally overshadowed the rest of the business which covered budget plans for the Fire Authority and the London Development Agency.

Fares Package

Boris announced a fares increase of inflation plus 1% on average, although this will vary with some ticket types rising by less. He claims that this rise is needed to fix a 'black hole' left in the budget by the previous incumbent, although there were claims from other members that some of his new policies were adding the extra costs. I'm inclined to give the Mayor the benefit of the doubt for several reasons:

1. Changing this organisation is like turning a super tanker. Boris has only just started to bring in his policies so any costs incurred will be minimal. The TfL representative confirmed that new policies had not been considered when planning this fares package.

2. Livingstone had previous form. Four years ago he promised fare cuts before the election then put them up several months after he had won. History is repeating itself.

3. During the election correspondence from TfL emerged, showing that officials were concerned about the gap they had identified in the Livingstone's budget.

4. Livingstone in fact agreed the inflation plus 1% increase at a TfL board meeting which he chaired before the election. He then changed his decision as the election approached, causing consternation at TfL.

There are a lot of claims and counter claims being made, so I was pleased that the Mayor responded positively to my request that TfL's advice to his predecessor be released to committee members so we can see exactly who decided what, and when.

Meanwhile, there was good news on the 24 hour Freedom Pass, now due to go live with the new fares package in January. The cut price fares for claimants on income support have also been maintained, despite speculation that they would be abolished along with the Venezuela oil deal.

Fire Authority

Chairman Brian Coleman provided a typically assertive performance, telling the committee that he was aiming for zero growth in his budget. It will be challenging to turn around a settlement which has relied on raiding the reserves in recent years, but he had some interesting ideas, including the sharing of corporate functions with other GLA functional bodies - always possible since the creation of the GLA, but never before seen as a priority -, a review of training services, and plans to move the Fire Brigade Museum to a more accessible location.

Brian undertook to maintain the number of front line fire fighters and appliances, indeed there are plans to open a new fire station in Havering, the first new fire station in many years.

The authority will also fund resilience costs - equipping us to respond to terrorist attacks - if the government refuse to provide the money, as they have in the past.

London Development Agency

The previously troubled LDA quickly came under new management and chief executive, Peter Rogers, made his first appearance before the committee. He is rightly keen to establish new priorities with his board before speculating in a public forum, but he did indicate that future funding would be focused on larger projects where the returns would be more reliable and the burden of monitoring would be eased.

We were pleased to hear that board meetings would be held in public, and that a standing public item would allow discussion of the Mayor's directions to the authority. This level of transparency was one of the key recommendations from Patience Wheatcroft's forensic audit which followed the new Mayor's election.

So, a lot of ground was covered in a couple of hours. The committee plans to monitor future activities of the functional bodies and also plans to do some stand alone reviews, including an informative look at the true costs of transport policing. It promises to be a full and interesting year.

Western Extension Consultation Starts Today

This morning the mayor launches his consultation on the future of the congestion charge Western Extension. The extended zone has been controversial since it was introduced by the last mayor and has attracted opposition from local residents and traders groups. The zone was a contributory factor in Kit Malthouse's stunning London election victory.

I don't know what the result will be, but in my opinion Boris would do well to abolish the extension which has harmed local business, failed to raise much revenue and serves as a perverse incentive for all the residents who receive a discount to drive their cars more often.

There was always a sniff of class warfare in Livingstone's decision. The planned Eastern Extension (covering largely Labour supporting areas) was never progressed and the proposal for a charge at Heathrow never got off the drawing board.

Playing Scrabble Without the Vowels

We were all pretty cheerful on May 2nd. Not only had Boris defeated Ken, against all the odds, we also had a larger Conservative group - now numbering eleven, over two fifths of the 25 strong London Assembly. But at the count one Labour member sounded a note of caution - 'You are about to discover that Assembly Members are lower than dirt on the mayor's shoes.' he predicted.

Well, thanks to a less dictatorial approach from Boris, that particular prediction has not come to pass, but members who spent the last eight years in opposition have had to adjust to a new role - opposing the opposition, as it were. The powers of the Assembly are severely limited in any case, and I used to describe the role as 'Playing Scrabble without the vowels', yet this is even more the case for a group supporting the mayor, with opportunities for scrutiny severely curtailed. In eight years Labour never really got the hang of it, hence the dirt on shoes analogy.

So as the GLA prepares to return to work in September, it is timely to ask the question 'What is the purpose of the Conservative group?'


Safeguarding the Budget

The only opportunity the Assembly has to restrict the mayor's activities comes with the budget vote, for he needs our approval for his plans. However he only requires the support of a third of the members and some quick arithmetic shows that 11 Conservatives can block the proposals of the other 14 members, assuming the other four parties can get their act together and agree on what they want.

But I believe the role should be greater than just protecting the mayor's budget. We need to actively promote his proposals, across our constituencies, from Havering to Hillingdon, from Barnet to Bromley. There is a great opportunity for AMs to sell London Conservative policy, but it will require detailed liaison between the group and the mayor's team, well in advance of the budget debate in the New Year.


Question Time

Every month AMs enjoy the privilege of questioning the mayor at a Wednesday morning session screened on the Parliament Channel. Labour always struggled with this under Ken, with some members pushing too far and arousing his anger, whilst others asked toady questions placed by the mayor's team or even tried to provide answers instead of the mayor. The performance of sycophantic Labour backbenchers at PMQs provides a textbook example of behaviour to avoid.

So how do we help the mayor and Londoners, without toadying? I believe that the answer lies in constituency based questions. I know that my caseload has exploded since the election. There was a huge turnout in May and those voters now reasonably expect Boris and his AMs to solve their problems. The functional bodies that make up the GLA can be infuriatingly slow at resolving constituency matters, so what better way to create urgency - and publicity - than to raise them at question time? Concerns about bus routes and police response times may appear tediously parochial, but our constituents expect us to be able to address them.


Functional Bodies

The law requires the mayor to appoint some members in executive or semi executive roles. A statutory deputy mayor must be appointed from the assembly - a role admirably filled by my colleague Richard Barnes. AMs have to be appointed to the Police Authority and the Fire Authority, ensuring that most members end up with some executive role. Boris has also appointed an AM - James Cleverly - to the London Development Agency board.

Beyond this, Boris has appointed outsiders to major roles, often because the complex legislation leaves him with little alternative, but also to bring in the specialist skills and experience that he requires. Unfortunately there have been several high profile casualties, but a glance at Labour's Government of All The Talents (GOAT), demonstrates that appointing non politicians can be risky.

With a mayor's office that is worked off its feet, there is certainly an opportunity to exploit AMs' experience to a greater extent in the coming four years.


Scrutiny

The bread and butter work of the Assembly is scrutiny of the mayor, and we have learned enough in eight years to do it well, within the constraints imposed by the GLA act. The initial response of the other parties to their defeat was to gang up and exclude the Conservative members from every influential scrutiny chair. This leaves them attempting to run the Assembly with just 13 AMs (having also excluded the BNP member), a considerable challenge for four years.

We can expect the committees to keep up a constant barrage of complaints, some justified but many insignificant, indeed we have already seen this during the appointment of mayoral advisors - a process which would have benefited from constructive scrutiny rather than the constant carping which actually took place.

I see Conservative AMs having a role in applying some realism to the scrutiny process, highlighting genuine findings amongst the morass of unfounded grumbling which could easily be the result of one sided scrutiny.


We are aware of the need to meet voters' expectations and to make a difference to our capital over the next four years - and the time will fly. Boris will be judged most stringently on his performance in the job, but the Assembly elections take place at the same time and a reaction against the mayor is certain to drag down many of the Conservative AMs in its wake. We are all in this together - as David Cameron would say.

Everytime I go Away...

I've just returned from a week in North Yorkshire which was great because I got to see my family, including Joe, my 2 year old nephew who is growing up very fast. The other good thing is that mobile phone reception is a bit patchy up there, so I was blissfully incommunicado for a few days. The message that Tim Parker had stood down as TfL chairman and first deputy mayor did get through - rendering my last post out of date literally overnight.

Funny thing - last time I went away, to Sorrento, I was 'enjoying' an English newspaper over lunch on the terrace high above the harbour, and I was equally surprised to read of Ray Lewis's resignation as deputy mayor.

We've only got four deputy mayor's left now, so I'm going to spend the rest of the year resolutely in London, just in case I'm jinxing them. I might just risk going to Birmingham for the party conference...