Download Inter Meeting Questions - Greater London Authority

GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY
London Assembly
Inter-Meeting Questions
Report No: 8
Subject:
Inter Meeting Questions
Report of:
Executive Director Of Secretariat
Question Status Asked before 27/03/2002 and answered since
44 / 2002
- Budget Process
Victor Anderson
Sent To 29-Jan-2002
65
Working Days Since Sent
To
Mayor
Will the Mayor add a new procedure to the budget process in future, whereby he consults
the Assembly each January as to the view it takes at that point concerning the proposals
with expenditure implications made in Assembly scrutiny reports during the preceding
year?
.
The Mayor
Answered 29-Apr-2002
The views of the Assembly concerning the proposals, with expenditure implications, made
in its scrutiny reports would be very welcome. The budget process does, of course, already
include consultation with the Assembly as part of the budget consultation exercise in late
December/early January, and it may be appropriate for the Budget Committee to
specifically cover this issue in its response. However to be of value it assumes that the
Assembly scrutiny reports include robust costing information.
.
47 / 2002
- Budget
Victor Anderson
Sent To 01-Feb-2002
62
Working Days Since Sent
To
Mayor
What would be the estimated saving, by comparison with the draft budget, over the next
year, from adopting the Assembly's policy of a vacancy rate of 1.5%?
.
The Mayor
Answered 29-Apr-2002
The increased vacancy rate of 1.5% would deliver £0.1m in 2002/03.
.
1
48 / 2002
- SDS/ draft budget
Victor Anderson
Sent To 01-Feb-2002
62
Working Days Since Sent
To
Mayor
How does the Mayor interpret the line on the SDS in the notes to the Assembly's
amendment on the draft budget? What would be the estimated saving, by comparison
with the draft budget, over the next year from adopting this policy?
.
The Mayor
Answered 29-Apr-2002
The Assembly’s amendments suggests that the cost of the SDS, particularly the
Examination in public, should be “evened out” across financial years. Officers are
currently
examining ways in which this could be achieved, potentially by drawing money from
reserves in 2002/03 and paying it back in the subsequent years. Whilst this could
perhaps
be a way of smoothing the expenditure pattern slightly, it only provides limited scope and
it does not alter the total cost of the SDS.
.
49 / 2002
- GLA Core Budget
Victor Anderson
Sent To 01-Feb-2002
62
Working Days Since Sent
To
Mayor
What would be the total saving from adopting all of the policies in the Assembly's
amendment listed under the heading of "GLA Core Budget", with the exception of the City
Hall item, and how does this compare with the Assembly's figure of "at least £2m" for
total reductions in the Core GLA draft budget?
.
The Mayor
Answered 29-Apr-2002
The total saving arising from the Assembly’s list is £1.9m before SDS and City Hall. If an
assumption is made that SDS costs can be reduced by £0.1m by moving costs between
financial years, then they do total £2m. However, the proposal to make such substantial
reductions in key priority areas such as environment, external relations, and housing are
not accepted. In addition, there is a commitment to communicating and consulting with
Londoners and any reductions in this part of the budget would make this difficult.
.
50 / 2002
- Core GLA - restructuring
Victor Anderson
Sent To 01-Feb-2002
62
Working Days Since Sent
To
Mayor
Has the Mayor received any proposals from Assembly Members concerning the
restructuring of staff in the Core GLA in order to help achieve the savings proposed in the
Assembly's amendment with the minimum damage to strategy implementation?
.
The Mayor
Answered 29-Apr-2002
I am not aware of any proposals from the Assembly about restructuring in order to achieve
savings. The draft budget does however include proposals to restructure and achieve
efficiencies.
2
.
51 / 2002
- Low Emission Zone
Victor Anderson
Sent To 01-Feb-2002
62
Working Days Since Sent
To
Mayor
What would be the impact of the Assembly amendment on the Low Emission Zone
feasibility study? What representations has the Mayor received from Assembly Members
regarding expenditure on this study?
.
The Mayor
Answered 29-Apr-2002
The Assembly proposals suggest that all the growth around the Environmental strategies,
including nine new posts and additional resources for research and Low Emission Zones
should be deleted. Clearly this would have far reaching implications and would limit the
Authority’s capacity to implement the strategies. Indeed throughout the budget scrutiny
process, external stakeholders have commented on the need for the GLA to move from
strategy development to implementation and to be seen to deliver
Officers are currently examining the potential to contribute to Low Emission zones from
this year’s budget and to reduce the bid for extra resources next year.
3
126 / 2002
Angie Bray
.
- Bus Routes with increased ridership
Sent To 27-Feb-2002
44
Working Days Since Sent
To
Mayor
Will the Mayor please explain which bus routes have seen the increased ridership, at what
hours and on what days?
.
The Mayor
Answered 29-Apr-2002
Growth in bus ridership has been widespread and general across the network, not limited
to
specific routes:
2000/1
(millions)
2001/2
(millions)
All travel on bus routes
that enter zone 1:
548m
579m
(+5.7%)
All travel on bus routes
that do not enter zone 1:
806m
851m
(+5.6%)
1430m
(+5.6%)
Total
1354m
Growth has occurred at all times and 96% of the total is on day services. The largest
proportional increases are at weekends and at night:
Weekdays
Saturdays
Sundays/Bank Holidays
Nights
+54m
+10m
+9m
+3m
(+5%)
(+6%)
(+9%)
(+20%)
These figures are based on the provisional results for 2001/2.
Underpinning this increased ridership has been an increase in service levels. London
Buses
has ambitious proposals for further expansion across the network and recently published
a
consultation document on its plans for Inner London. The bus network is actively managed
to ensure it continues to meet users' needs and there are more than 400 changes per
year,
ranging from new schedules to significant alterations in route structures and expansion
into currently-unserved areas. Service alterations and expansion are one of many factors
which influence bus patronage levels. Others include: fares levels and changes in
employment, population and consumer spending patterns.
.
94 / 2001
- Ice Skating Rinks
Tony Arbour
Sent To
0
Working Days Since Sent
To
Mayor
Does the Mayor believe that ice skating rinks should be an important and vital part of
London’s leisure facilities?
.
The Mayor
No Answer Date
Ice skating is a popular pastime, involving people of all ages, and not in any way exclusive
to particular groups. This was illustrated most clearly by the queues of people waiting to
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skate on the rink in the square of Somerset House over the Christmas period. However,
many rinks have closed down, due to high maintenance costs. I will ask the Cultural
Strategy Group to look at how they can integrate ice skating rinks into their work.
5