Abolish Government Office for London, demands City Hall
THE Government Office for London should be abolished, the London Assembly urged today. It is an unnecessary bureaucracy costing taxpayers �15 million a year and is unaccountable, say Assembly members
THE Government Office for London should be abolished, the London Assembly urged today.
It is an unnecessary bureaucracy costing taxpayers �15 million a year and is unaccountable, say Assembly members.
The department should be replaced with a streamlined operation, along the lines of the Scottish Office and Welsh Office, which would act as a conduit between London’s directly-elected assembly and Whitehall departments.
Assembly member Darren Johnson, who proposed today’s motion calling for its abolition, said: “The Chancellor is scouring government spending for opportunities to halve the national deficit. Cutting the Government Office for London would be a good place to start.
You may also want to watch:
“The establishment of democratic London-wide government in 2000 should have sounded its death knell.
“It is now long past time this bureaucratic dinosaur was abolished.”
Most Read
- 1 Murder arrest after woman stabbed to death in Whitechapel this morning
- 2 Fury as family homes vanish when Isle of Dogs landlord converts to bedsits
- 3 Man sentenced after teenage boy groomed on Snapchat to sell heroin
- 4 Two men arrested after police officers assaulted in Limehouse rave
- 5 Police hunt after stabbing in Cable Street: One man hurt
- 6 Airbnb house party violence leaves police officer with broken finger
- 7 'Racist consultation' protest rejected on Tower Hamlets street closures as Labour sticks to its manifesto
- 8 Leyton Orient boss is expecting more transfer movement in the window
- 9 Council fined for Alexia Walenkaki's playground death in Mile End and says sorry to family
- 10 Ethnic communities not taking up Covid jabs, Tower Hamlets Mayor warns
The Government Office for London was set up to fill a gap when the Thatcher Government abolished the Greater London Council in 1986. But it has continued running years after the London Assembly was established.
Assembly member Mike Tuffrey said: “There can be no justification for retaining this superfluous bureaucracy when budgets for services like police and transport are under severe pressure.”
The Assembly today calls on the Government to take steps to abolish it to avoid duplication, save money and improve accountability, agreed by 11 votes in favour at today’s meeting, which can be viewed on webcast.