Sadiq Khan’s office says he stands by the appointment of Sir Peter Hendy as the new Chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation despite recent stories about the former transport Commissioner’s expenses.
Last week this site revealed how Sir Peter continued using Transport for London resources to move his luggage around the capital despite quitting the organisation two years ago to become Chair of Network Rail.
Following our inquiries, use of the perk was ceased and Sir Peter made a charitable donation to cover the cost.
This was followed on Saturday by the Daily Mail’s publication of Hendy’s expenses claims at Network Rail which veer between a 57p bag of crisps and a number of high priced meals at the Groucho club.
Hendy’s love of the club has been well documented after he charged London taxpayers for a series of lavish meals there during his time as TfL Commissioner.
Network Rail rules prohibit staff from claiming for alcohol meaning that, unlike Hendy’s claims at TfL, taxpayers weren’t asked to pick up the cost of glasses of champagnes and £44 bottles of wine to accompany the meals.
City Hall declined to say whether Mr Khan would be instructing Sir Peter to conduct LLDC meetings at the agency’s offices rather than at the Groucho, but gave the following statement:
“Sir Peter Hendy was appointed as chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation because of his vast experience and knowledge in leading big public sector organisations and large-scale infrastructure projects.
“Sadiq is committed to being an open and transparent Mayor and expects all functioning bodies of the Greater London Authority to operate in the same way, and that is why the LLDC already publishes details of expenses online and its policy requires the names of attendees at dinners to be included.”