The London Assembly yesterday rejected a motion to approve the Mayor’s budget proposals by 16 votes to 9.
Labour and Green Party Assembly Members voted to approve the budget. Conservative, Liberal Democrat and One London Assembly Members voted against.
At its meeting, the Assembly adopted three motions relating to the budget. The first calls on Mayor Ken Livingstone “to produce a final budget which significantly reduces the Mayor’s proposed rate of increase in the GLA precept”, secondly the assembly called on Livingstone “to seek to ensure that the Olympic element of the precept appears as a separately identified line in Council Tax bills”.
The third motion notes states that the “Assembly regrets that it is unable to amend more than the bottom-line budget figures. Given the Mayor’s powers of virement and ability to re-prioritise, the Assembly’s power to amend the bottom line budget figures can easily be undermined.
This Assembly calls for the government, in its forthcoming review of the GLA powers, to strengthen the Assembly’s powers in order to ensure that there are proper checks and balances within this critical area of Mayoral power.”
The Mayor’s final budget proposals will come before the London Assembly for approval on Wednesday 15 February. A two-thirds majority of Assembly members is required to amend the budget.
