Assembly to investigate Mayor's appointments

7.15.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 10th Jul 2008

The London Assembly yesterday unanimously voted to investigate Mayor Boris Johnson's appointment of senior staff and consultants at City Hall.

The move follows the resignation of two key Mayoral advisors in the space of two weeks. The investigation, to be carried out by the Business Management and Administration Committee (BMAC), will look at four key questions:

· How did Mayor Boris Johnson pick his senior City Hall policy advisors?

· Were proper recruitment procedures followed?

· Was the Mayor properly advised about the use of his powers of appointment?

· What lessons can be learnt for future changes of administration at City Hall?

The investigation was launched following questioning of Tim Parker, First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive of the GLA Group, appearing before the Assembly. The inquiry was mandated by a motion proposed by Labour member John Biggs AM who told the Assembly:

"To lose one advisor might be considered unfortunate but to lose two in two weeks looks like carelessness. Beyond the headlines there are important issues about the appointment of publicly funded staff that need to be addressed to ensure the good management of this authority. We recognise that this has been the first time power has changed hands at City Hall but it will surely not be the last. The lessons we learn from our investigation will help the next new Mayor to avoid some of the hiccups around appointments that have troubled this administration."

The motion was seconded by Liberal Democrat Assembly group leader Mike Tuffrey AM, who said:

"Boris Johnson promised Londoners an end to cronyism at City Hall with transparency and clarity about the appointment of advisers and their interests. What we heard today from Tim Parker failed to address the issues about appointments exposed by the recent resignations."

The full text of the motion passed is:

"That the Assembly notes the answers to the questions asked and the absence of one of our invitees. We instruct the Business Management and Administration Committee to look closely at the Mayor's appointments of staff under S67 of the GLA Act (and his temporary use of consultants in advisory posts akin to S67 appointments) in order to understand how the appointments were made, whether they fully followed proper process, whether the Mayor was properly advised in the exercise of his powers and whether any lessons are to be learnt."