Powers and Responsibilities of London Mayor

GLA is liable for communicating with internal entities and the London Borough Councils are legally obligated to pursue political plans and, if not, the Mayor has the right to override decisions that are not in the interests of London or the public, since London Borough GLA tends to be a successful professional in terms of the new quality of life strategy for all Londoners. Keeping up with the changes brought about by GLA in London, the Government proposed a policy to pass more powers and duties to the Mayor to work in a stronger arrangement in all businesses, including those other fields not historically covered by the Mayor’s Authority, such as housing, training and education, the environment, waste management and planning. This programme was made public on 30 November 2005 after a review of all the accomplishments of sound strategic planning and execution. Some of the effective plans to preserve competition have been set in motion by the rest of the world’s revolutionary quotes. London is a financial hub that makes a major contribution to the development of the United Kingdom. In order to overcome the specific challenges, the Mayor has developed strategies aimed at maintaining the competitiveness of the London minority through a clear system of capital spending measures. Any of the gains achieved by the Mayor during his rule show a cost of 10 billion pounds in transport building projects, safety initiatives have been improved by an expansion of around 8,000 police officers, a strategic collaboration has been formed with the Government of the Child Care Network, and the most rewarding accomplishment has been the selection of London to host the 20th anniversary.

Thus Mayor and GLA progressed towards bright prospects of London and therefore, GLA in support of Mayor accepted some workable options with further financial contribution from Government of London. Mayor demanded additional powers and responsibilities to work collectively for the betterment of London after which he introduced some major environmental policies and set their priorities for different projects.

Environmental Policies

Boris Johnson won his election to be a mayor on his environmental policies of having greener London. In his plan he briefed a strategy of investing huge budget on environmental programs to save London from the upcoming consequences of Global warming. It is explained in his plan that setting up new projects will give a large number of job vacancies which itself is a positive vision. He emphasized that an ample amount of government services budget will be cut down to be invested in one of his designed plans. He laid some extraordinary plans which were surely a way to meet the energy shortage in the next few years and to prevent London from natural disasters which only occurs due to excessive pollution. Some of his policies are as follows:

Carbon Reduction

He says that carbon emission is the most destructive element in collapsing the natural balance of environment which is supposed to be cut down through different means like introducing low-carbon vehicles or electric cars. He assured people of reducing 60% of carbon till 2025 which requires an amount of Euros 60 billion to reach the target, out of which government will contribute to Euros 800 million in bringing in new electric cars by 2018. His major emphasis was to save London, a financial hub of United Kingdom.

Energy Preservation

In this regard, he briefed his plan in improving energy efficiency of homes which requires a budget of pounds 193 million from public money and wants government to infuse Pounds 70 million to 90 million in the next three years. This will help clean the air we breathe in, which is helpful in reducing health problems. This aspect includes one of his bold strategies of installing energy busting LED for greener traffic lights at around 3500 places which is approximately more than half of London.

Plantations

He emphasized on planting more trees to save London from issues like air pollution. He projected to plant 2 million trees which cover 25% of London. This will project London as a greenest city and will show that London is fighting hard to save mother earth and its beauty.

Waste and Recycling

This is London’s most critical issue which needs to be resolved as soon as possible because London dispose its waste in the surrounding lands which cannot be continued for long so London has to set up some strong recycling projects to manage waste within. Roughly figures were given that Londoners can save up to 90 million Pounds through using recycled products.

Promoting Agriculture for Local People

Mayors’ initiative of Capital Growth will allocate 2012 pieces of land by 2012 to grow and have food which will be economical and healthy. This can lead to a lot of opportunities for people to work and earn.

Clean Air

Under this strategy, hybrid busses are being introduced and get strict with maximum age limit of transportation vehicles like minicabs and taxis which will help keep the air clean for people to breathe.

Development of Public Places

When it comes on the beautification of London city, Mayor leaves no questions for people to rise. He took a vigilant look and planned a strategy to upgrade Public Parks and shopping malls by installing energy-efficient lighting system which will later help run the colorful fountains throughout the year. He committed to invest 6 million pounds on the maintenance of their 11 beloved parks across London.

All these plans were not just to protect the environment but will bring new jobs for thousands of people and skilled labor like electricians, plumbers, builders, roofers, gardeners etc. These plans were designed to improve issues like noise and air pollution, biodiversity, unemployment, waste management, and climatic problems.

Critical Analysis

When London was honored of getting the chance to host Olympics 2012, it seemed to be the biggest achievement and GLA was confident on signing the agreement with a specification that the city will respect the International Pollution Laws. Immediate measures were taken of assigning responsibilities for organizing Olympics 2012 which involved four functional bodies:

• LOCOG: London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games.
• ODA: The Olympic Delivery Authority.
• LDA: London Development Authority.
• Commission for a Sustainable London 2012

Mayor addressed them with their responsibilities and laid an outline of how the Olympics  will be delivered in 2012. These organizations are responsible for the complete program. Each have their own duties to carry but unfortunately, it did not come out the way it was promised to the public of London.

“Sustainability was an important element of our bid and underpins our preparations and our vision for the legacy of London 2012.” London 2012 Chairman, Seb Coe

This is the most encouraging statement but here a question arises: Does it working out this way?

Reality tells us that Olympics preparations and Routes are causing a huge percentage of air pollution which cannot be cut down until 30% of traffic is banned. Whereas, it is also said that Britain would be charged a penalty of about 175 million pounds by European Union and it is expected to put a draconian ban like in 2008 Olympic Beijing.

“The organizers have failed on many of the promises. They are a long way short of the inspirational revolution in environmental policy we were promised.” said Darren Johnson, London assembly Green party member. 

Mayor in his strategies promised on several other issues like waste recycling, Athlete Village, Energy Consumption, Construction, Food, Wildlife Park, and Olympic Flame. Mayor pledged different positive schemes of organizing the greenest Olympics ever. In regard of constructing Olympic venue and stages, he proposed that 90% of demolished materials will be reused and will be brought in by rails and seaways. It was observed that 95% of the demolished materials was recycled and melted but only 1% was reused in the Olympic venues. It was stated that this Olympics will  going to be a zero-waste program in which no waste will be sent to landfill but it is coming the other way, food waste are sent to Bedfordshire and no measures are taken to improve waste policies.

Another major is the issue of accommodating athletes in a village in energy self sufficient homes and the proposed number of houses were 8000 which is now decreased to amount of 4700.

A lot of issues like low flame Olympic torches are expected as promised. Londoners are getting effected in each way because increase in air pollution and waste will contaminate their health as well.

Students Opinion Regarding Mayor’s Policy

Mayor showed serious concerns over the rising population of London and the possible reason he mentioned was the number of migrations to United Kingdom. According to the report, half of the UK migrants live in London and the rest also prefer coming to London which not only creates accommodation problem but also lead to crime issues. He focused on the Asylum seeker that this needs to be revised and local funds need to be increased to address these quantifying numbers of people, crossing city borders. These restrictions can lead to serious problems for people on General Skilled Migration as they find problems in getting quality jobs or accommodation.  He stand firmly on his point in favor of Londoners that a limited quota will be provided to foreign students otherwise this will lead to a serious problem of unemployment for young students of age 19 to 24. Further he briefed that later in few years 100.000 British students will fail to get admissions in Higher Universities which is heartache. Boris Johnson was the one who took stand for increasing Education Quota for low income Londoners who might leave education if not affordable.Vice-Chancellor of Oxford’s university is demanding an increase in fee structure which Boris Johnson found it more practical by providing a reason that only quality students from foreign should come and take a deserving seat otherwise Education funds released by the government will not be able to accommodate every increasing burden. He individually emphasized that financial assistance will also be provided to British students and foreigners as well, but the ratio will be higher for Londoners. Survey report of Student’s opinion in this regards was that these policies can make them go back to their homelands as they cannot find better options in any other cities in the UK than London. This threatens their bright future and life ahead.

He appreciated the education system followed in London universities and claimed that a huge number of bright students are willing to come from all around the world and the income from foreign students contributes 5 million pounds annually. Later he mentioned that when he address foreign students that means students from outside EU because students within are getting a great deal in education assistance. (Article: EU students 2010)

Students were found uncertain with their opinions because the increase in fees will isolate their chances, whereas some students were neutral and was waiting for the timing to get implemented to watch results. A large number of students were not happy because of the favors proposed to Londoners only.

Greater London Authority Powers and Responsibilities

Legislation was adopted in 1998 with the goal of creating the Greater London Authority (GLA). The government was uncertain regarding the feasibility of a radically new government system within the city of London with respect to the creation of the legislation. The power set-up for GLA was then held limited. After a time of six years, though, the GLA strived for progress by adopting a ‘solid Mayor’ model. In the current scenario, the GLA is described by the Mayor and Assembly as the mode of government in which powers and obligations are conferred in order to resolve the problems faced by London. Like transportation, police, fire and rescue, growth and development, and lastly, strategic planning, the different fields in which the GLA is kept accountable are. Direct service provision is not provided for by the GLA’s obligations, however it functions with the aid of operating entities integrated into the GLA’s framework (London First, 2011).

For dealing with transportation, the functional body Transport for London is held responsible. This body is bestowed with the responsibility of managing the system of transportation within the city of London. Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) is another functional body which is responsible for overviewing the provision of policing all around the city of London. The fire operation of London along with planning and controlling for emergency is carried out by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). The growth and developmental activities all around the city of London is carried out by the London Development Agency (LDA). Additional powers were suggested to be integrated under the GLA along with these historical powers and obligations of the GLA on November 30^th, 2005. The study of the powers and responsibilities of the GLA culminated in the introduction of new powers and responsibilities, including waste control, accommodation, preparation and studying, along with abilities (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: London, 2005).

Literature Review Summarizing the Environmental Policies of the Mayor

Johnson (2010) offered constructive reviews on the decision made by Mr. Boris Johnson (the Mayor) on environmental concerns, but also questioned the mechanism by which the Mayor tried to accomplish his environmental objectives. As per the Mayor’s plans, the aim is to reach a 60 percent drop in CO2 pollution from the region by 2025. The Mayor announced that it would be appropriate to spend 60 billion pounds in order to reach the targeted decrease in CO₂ emissions. The Mayor also stated, however, that he wants the government to invest up to 800 million pounds on the implementation of low emission cars by the year 2018 in this respect. With respect to the Mayor’s goals, the author predicted that 193 million pounds will have to be invested by the government by 2015 (Johnson, 2010).

The policy of the Mayor was appreciated by the author on the grounds that it would generate contributions for the city in the form of job enhancement, security in terms of energy supply, reduction of fuel inefficiency and also improvement of the public’s health. The author suggested that the Mayor can identify and implement other innovative ways for generating funds, e.g., working with the communities in order to generate cost-effective processes. The views of the author are absolutely buoyant as he suggested easier ways of generating funds than rushing and convincing the government for the funds. The Mayor’s notion is dependent upon the government’s move to a greater extent, which can lower the pace of the achievement process of the environmental goals (Johnson, 2010).

The policy of the Mayor, Mr. Boris Johnson aimed towards the environmental betterment has been condemned by critics and the critics’ viewpoints have been presented by Mulholland (2011) within his publication in the ‘Guardian’. The author stated that the threat of fine over London pertaining to the city’s air pollution amounting to 300 million pounds by the European Commission should be viewed as a ‘wake-up call’ for the Mayor, Mr. Johnson. The Mayor along with the government should take up immediate steps for cleaning up the air of London, as reiterated by the author. But contradict to this verse; the Mayor persevered that the policies undertaken in his environmental strategy would ensure that the threats of fine from European Union are deterred from London in the future. The notion of the critics based on which the author presented his points of view are absolute considering the short term needs of the city. The Mayor’s policies are fruitful considering the long term prospects of environmental efficiency. On the other hand, with reference to the threat of fine from the European Commission, the effectiveness of the Mayor’s strategies with concern to environment would be doubtful. Presenting supportive notions towards the author’s thinking about the Mayor’s strategic moves, it would be viable to mention that the Mayor should cohesively work with the government for introducing effective plans of actions immediately. It would be exceptional to remember that the Mayor’s decision towards framing environmental policies based on his predecessors’ decision was seriously condemned by the opposition parties. This statement would strengthen the author’s point of view in this regard (Mulholland, 2011).     

Mulholland (2010), in his other article, provided various facts based on which the Mayor’s policy towards environmental safeguarding was mentioned to be ‘not fit for purpose’ by the critics. It’s on one hand of the coin, in fact, certain that after being pressurized through the move of the European Commission, the Mayor initiated a number of favourable moves aimed at betterment of the air condition of London. But on the other side, critics have also criticized the moves of the Mayor on the ground that he has taken several late actions in the context of environmental protection of the city. According to a member of the Green Party of the London Assembly, Darren Johnson, the approaches of the Mayor has been delayed by 2 and a half years. Moreover, the plan that has been initiated after the long delay is even ‘half-baked’ as stated by Darren Johnson. Citing an example on the grounds of criticism, he cited the fact that the Mayor, at a certain point of time, eliminated the inspection of black cabs to be conducted on a half-yearly basis. But due to the pressure, he has undertaken moves to reinstate this form the year 2013. The Mayor’s decisions had even been criticized by the Director of Clean Air in London, Simon Birkett (Mulholland, 2010).    

According to Mulholland (2010), the average concentration of NO₂ will surpass the restriction amount by the year 2015. This will happen across around 45% of the entire area of London. Considering the critics’ grounds and putting self evaluation attribute, it would be worthwhile to mention that the criticisms cannot be accepted comprehensively. The Mayor already stated that the pure air target for London would be achievable if every entity within the city performs their respective responsibilities towards the environment. Thus the critics should also consider their own role within the society in addition to the considerations that they have put for critically evaluating the Mayor’s moves (Mulholland, 2010).   

In order to put light into the criticism on the Mayor’s approach for safeguarding the environment, points of views of Nichols (2011) have been cited in this section. The Mayor has been criticized on the basis that the available capital with the Mayor is just not enough to cope up with the target being set at initiating 200000 homes to be more energy-efficient and also more water-efficient by the year 2012 (Nichols, 2011).

According to Murad Qureshi, the spokesperson for the environment in Labour’s London Assembly, the Mayor’s decision had massively failed to achieve his set target during the year 2009. In response to his own promise of greening at least 200000 homes by his term-end, the Mayor could not even manage to take care of 100 homes throughout the last year i.e. 2010. The Mayor has been criticized on the fact that he was dishonest to the people of London during the past two years. Moreover, the Mayor also fell short of achieving his target of bringing more than 350 hybrid buses on the roads of London by the end of the month of March 2011. This target has been revised and set for achievement of 300 of those buses by the end of December 2012. Taking into consideration, the various facts about failures of the Mayor, it was observed to be extremely essential that the Mayor should strive for attaining helping hands towards the achievement of environmental targets. Cohesive work of various communities of the city along with the governmental support would craft a green and pure London environment (Nichols, 2011).

Gap Analysis Between Public Policy Initiative and General Practice Among the Public

It is possible to observe a large distance between the public policy initiatives and the prevalence of general practice among the public with regards to the safeguarding of London’s environment. The policy initiatives undertaken by the Mayor of London, Mr. Boris Johnson were comprehensively aimed at making the air of London cleaner. But the Mayor specifically signified the success of the initiatives only through the cooperation of the public. The general people should have to instigate within themselves the general practices through which harmful emission of gases within the environment can be avoided (Sevier, 2010).

The Mayor took strong initiatives towards the reduction of air pollution being created in the roads through measures such as power washing, application of dust suppressants, enforcing the public to prevent them from keeping their vehicles’ engine ‘on’ during traffic jams or in signals. In this context, instead of cooperating with the Mayor’s initiatives, the general public would perform certain activities that contravene the successful implementation of the initiatives. For example, the general public would use their vehicles all the time, even during travelling for short distances. They would unnecessarily set ‘on’ their vehicles’ engines in signals in order to save time. Due to the scarcity of enough time in their busy lives, they might not be able to take good care of their cars that gradually transforms into harmful objects for the environment creating excessive pollution and ultimately contributing to the immature deaths of human beings (Sevier, 2010).  

The public policy initiatives are also aimed at reduction of industrial pollution for the city of London. Industrial air pollution is a matter of concern as the dark smoke which comes out of the manufacturing industries and contains extremely harmful particles that directly causes impacts on the health condition of human beings. The communities concern about the fact has taken up several initiatives towards the reduction of pollution caused by industries (Environmental Protection UK, 2011). But the policy can only become successful if proper collaboration can be received both from the general public as well as that of the government. The gap identification between the public policy and practice among the public indicates that the citizens and even the government are increasingly becoming inclined towards the industrial and economic concerns of the city. In this respect, the government’s initiative to build up a third runway in the city along with the sixth terminal situated at Heathrow is the evidence of the fact that the government is more concerned about economic growth and industrialization than vigour and welfare of the local inhabitants (Vidal, 2010).  

The concerns of the Mayor accompanied with various supportive initiatives towards the betterment of the environment from the government would have changed the city’s scenario, had they been properly implemented. However, the future can be observed to be bright hitherto in regards to the various positive initiatives of the Mayor of the city. Mayor’s concern accompanied with the initiatives of various communities working for the wellbeing of the environment would definitely reduce the gap identified between the policies and general public practices (Mulholland, 2010).

Survey of Opinions Concerning London’s Priorities and a Recently Announced Policy by the Mayor

According to the Annual London Survey 2011 dealing with the opinions of the residents of London concerning their priorities, for the residents of London, the topmost priorities include training and education. Along with this priority, various other related issues such as the creation of job and opportunities for the young generation has also evolved as a priority for the residents of London, as stated within the survey report. Summarizing the findings of the opinions’ survey of the residents of London, the following issues have been identified. 77% of the residents of London are content with the fact that London is a good place to live. 46% of the residents of London believe that the most pleasant thing that makes living in London exciting is transport (Mayor of London, 2011). 

The fear of being attacked by criminals has been lessened among the residents of London, and they have been observed to be not worried at all. The residents of London concern about waste management has also been observed in the survey of opinions. It is the belief of 24% of the residents of London that this environmental issue should be the one among the top priorities of the people. This is because waste management has an essential indication towards the betterment of the environment of the city. The priority of the residents of London concerned with the conservation of green spaces has considerably expanded from 8% to 23% in 2011 from the previous year. Another important concern of the residents of London was observed to be the regenerative advantages that the city can gather from hosting the Olympics during the year 2012. 30% of the residents of London believe that the most essential benefit of hosting the event would be the rejuvenation of the East London (Mayor of London, 2011).  

A recent initiative announced by the office of the Mayor during 10^th of October 2011is that of the proposal for Olympic Park Legacy Corporation. The initiative was taken up from the Mayor’s office with the request for approving the proposal for setting up an area concerned with Mayoral development on the Olympic Park and its adjacent areas. The proposal was also aimed at establishment of a Mayoral development area within the same region. The initiative of the Mayor was also aimed at requesting for permission for publishing the statement containing the proposals (Greater London Authority, 2011).

Conclusion

A vast majority is still hoping and expecting high from the current Mayor, Boris Johnson. His proposed strategies were quite reasonable to make London a better place to live in. Unfortunately, a huge number of people got disoriented after watching failures in the proposed plan but GLA is struggling hard to maintain the promises made with constant effort and management. It is true that any government would take a little time to overcome the challenges, which is a fair deal to make but public and oppositions expected really high was looking for an instant solutions. GLA and Mayor are successful in fulfilling some of their projects like plantation and energy-efficient houses, low carbon emission etc. These issues are not completely resolved but immediate measures were taken to get rid of these threatening problems. They are coping make London the greenest place to live in, which is a strong contribution in saving mother earth from Global Warming, but this is a hindrance for Mayor to grow his political powers because Environmental issues are the major threat to UK’s economy, and hosting Olympics and Soccer World Cup in 2018 will lead to more threats. Boris Johnson won election on his idea of going green and attracted majority which now turning their backs as they did not get the results from the Mayor.

Recently formed constitution have kept all soft corners for Mr. Johnson aside and have started working together to stop people from getting mislead in the name of scientific facts like environment. Mayor’s proposed plans were costly and number of taxes were introduced on public which burdens their budget as well, and a huge amount was regularly served on projects. People are objecting on paper plans and demanding a practical approach towards his strategy. Boris lead administration needs to revise their policies to stop from getting bankrupt as these policies were based on scientific facts and figures which many claims that these figures are never certain to maximum. Changes are always observed in calculations and figures given by science and spending trillions on judgments can lead to several economic crises which are irreparable. In short, Mayor’s plan was not coordinated and carried out firmly which gave spaces to rivals to stand hard and speak against. Otherwise, beginning was not bad and plans also looked appropriate in this era where Globe is getting imbalance because of pollution and leading to serious issues like premature deaths and abnormal births which can ruin generations. ( The Independent : Johann Hari 2009)

Johann Hari spoke in regard of Boris policies where he supported two things and criticised the rest of his watered plans. He encouraged the strategy Boris offered to millions of illegal foreigner to come forward and live legally, this lead to a correct population figure. On the other hand, he criticized that Boris Green policies ended up with no color at all and lead to economic crises and at the same time he offered to subprime sectors where people can own homes. According to famous Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman, this decision will bring London back to scratch. The worst thing Boris Johnson did was to isolate himself when he was asked to answer his policies and defend his philosophy, but he never answered to people who helped him win.

From the discussion undertaken till now, both effectiveness and ineffectiveness of the GLA and the Mayor of London can be anticipated towards tackling important issues in relation to the environment. However, from the serious initiative of the Mayor during the past two years supported by various communities’ approaches, the concern of the discussion can be fairly transformed into the effectiveness of the GLA and Mayor of London. Putting in other words, the GLA and Mayor of London would definitely be effective in its policy implementation but only with the achievement of the desired level of cooperation from the general public. It was evident from the literature review section of this paper that the Mayor of London has became more concerned towards the environmental activities after being pressurized from the European Union. Thus the stricter norms of the European Union threatening with the imposition of fines accompanied by the instigated environmental concern within the Mayor would certainly bring about success for the city authorities in tackling environmental issues. Nonetheless, as also mentioned earlier, the cooperation of the general public is perhaps the most important attribute required to be achieved by the GLA and Mayor of London in order to become expansively effective. Additionally, it would be worth mentioning as concluding remark towards the effectiveness of the Mayor’s initiatives that along with striving out effectiveness in the long run, the Mayor should also concentrate towards the implementations of short run policies. The doubt of the critics towards success of the Mayor would also be eradicated through such consideration of the Mayor. Attainment of the critics’ support would also be relevant for generating effectiveness of the policies towards environmental safeguarding.

Bibliography

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