Greater London Authority Act 1999

Section 133.

SCHEDULE 8 Amendments of the Audit Commission Act 1998

Preliminary

1 The [1998 c. 18.] Audit Commission Act 1998 shall be amended as follows.

Transmission and consideration of section 8 reports

2 (1) Section 10 shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (2) (persons to whom copies of reports are to be sent) after “the Secretary of State” there shall be inserted “and (in the case of a functional body or the London Pensions Fund Authority) to the Mayor of London”.

(3) In subsection (3) (body concerned to take report into consideration in accordance with sections 11 and 12)—

(a) after “body concerned” there shall be inserted “(and, in the case of the Greater London Authority, the London Assembly)”; and

(b) in paragraph (a), after “in accordance with sections 11” there shall be inserted “, 11A”.

(4) After subsection (4) (agenda for meeting of the body to be accompanied by the report) there shall be inserted—

“(4A) In the case of a report relating to the Greater London Authority, subsection (4) shall apply in relation to the meeting of the London Assembly under section 11A(3) (taking the reference to the body as a reference to that Assembly).”

Consideration of reports or recommendations

3 (1) Section 11 shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), after “section 12” there shall be inserted “(and, in the case of a report or recommendations sent to the Greater London Authority, section 11A)”.

(3) After subsection (2) there shall be inserted—

“(2A) Where a written recommendation within subsection (3) is sent to a functional body or the London Pensions Fund Authority, a copy shall be sent at the same time to the Mayor of London.”

(4) After subsection (3) there shall be inserted—

“(3A) In relation to the Greater London Authority, subsections (4) to (7) shall not apply (but section 11A has effect in place of them).”

(5) After subsection (7) there shall be inserted—

“(7A) In the case of each of the following bodies, namely—

(a) Transport for London,

(b) the London Development Agency,

(c) the London Pensions Fund Authority,

Part VA of the 1972 Act (access to meetings etc) shall have effect in relation to the meeting as if that body were a principal council, but subject to the provisions of sections 10(5) and (6) and 12(3).”

(6) After subsection (8) (which prevents delegation under section 101 of the [1972 c. 70.] Local Government Act 1972) there shall be inserted—

“(8A) In the case of the London Development Agency or Transport for London, neither—

(a) paragraph 7 of Schedule 2 to the [1998 c. 45.] Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 (delegation by London Development Agency etc), nor

(b) paragraph 7 of Schedule 10 to the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (delegation by Transport for London),

shall apply to a duty imposed on either of those bodies by this section.”

4 After section 11 there shall be inserted—

“11A Greater London Authority: consideration of reports and recommendations

(1) This section applies where—

(a) a report under section 8, or

(b) any written recommendation within subsection (3) of section 11,

is sent to the Greater London Authority in connection with the audit of its accounts.

(2) The Mayor shall consider the report or recommendation preparatory to making the decisions under subsection (6).

(3) The Assembly shall consider the report or recommendation at a meeting.

(4) At that meeting the Assembly shall decide what recommendations to make to the Mayor as to the decisions to be made under subsection (6).

(5) The Mayor must attend the meeting.

(6) After the meeting, the Mayor shall decide—

(a) whether the report requires the Authority to take any action or whether the recommendation is to be accepted; and

(b) what (if any) action to take in response to the report or recommendation.

(7) In making any decision under subsection (6), the Mayor shall take account of any recommendations made by the Assembly pursuant to subsection (4).

(8) The duties imposed on the Mayor and Assembly by subsections (2) to (6) must be performed before the end of the period of four months beginning with the day on which the report or recommendation was sent to the Authority.

(9) If an auditor is satisfied that it is reasonable to allow more time for the performance of those duties in relation to a report or recommendation, he may, in relation to that report or recommendation, extend the period of four months mentioned in subsection (8).

(10) A period may be extended under subsection (9) whether or not it has already been extended under that subsection once or more than once.

(11) Any functions of the Mayor under this section must be exercised by the Mayor personally.

(12) Section 54 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (discharge of Assembly functions by committees etc) shall not apply in relation to any function of the Assembly under this section.

(13) Subsection (9) of section 11 applies in relation to this section as it applies in relation to that section.

(14) In this section—

• “the Assembly” means the London Assembly;

• “the Authority” means the Greater London Authority;

• “the Mayor” means the Mayor of London.”

Publicity for meetings

5 (1) Section 12 shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1) (meetings for the purposes of section 11) after “section 11” there shall be inserted “or 11A”.

(3) In subsection (2) (duty to notify auditor of decisions under section 11(5) etc)—

(a) after “as soon as practicable after the meeting” there shall be inserted “(or, in the case of the Greater London Authority, the making of the decisions under section 11A(6))

(b) in paragraph (a), after “section 11(5)” there shall be inserted “or 11A(6)”.

Declaration that item of account is unlawful

6 (1) Section 17 shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (7) (which defines “local authority” as including the bodies there mentioned)—

(a) before paragraph (a) there shall be inserted—

“(aa) the Greater London Authority;”; and

(b) after paragraph (e) there shall be inserted—

“(ee) the Metropolitan Police Authority;”.

(3) After subsection (7) there shall be inserted—

“(8) For the purposes of this section the members of the Greater London Authority are the Mayor of London and the members of the London Assembly.”

Recovery of amount not accounted for etc.

7 (1) Section 18 shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (12) (which applies subsections (6) and (7) of section 17) for “(6) and (7)” there shall be substituted “(6) to (8)”.

Documents relating to police authorities etc

8 (1) Section 32 shall be amended as follows.

(2) After subsection (2) there shall be inserted—

“(3) Any reference in this section to a police authority established under section 3 of the [1996 c. 16.] Police Act 1996 includes a reference to the Metropolitan Police Authority.”

Studies of Authority by Commission at request of Mayor

9 In section 35 (studies at request of bodies subject to audit) after subsection (2) there shall be inserted—

“(2A) Before exercising the power of the Greater London Authority to make a request under subsection (1) above, the Mayor of London shall consult the London Assembly.”

Studies of functional bodies by Commission at request of Mayor

10 After section 35 (studies by Commission at request of body subject to audit) there shall be inserted—

“35A Studies for functional bodies at request of Greater London Authority

(1) The Commission may, at the request of the Mayor of London, promote or undertake studies designed to improve economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the management or operation of any functional body or the London Pensions Fund Authority.

(2) Before making a request under subsection (1), the Mayor of London shall consult—

(a) the body concerned;

(b) the London Assembly; and

(c) such associations of employees as appear to him to be appropriate.

(3) The Commission shall charge the Greater London Authority such fees for services provided under this section as will cover the full cost of providing them.

(4) This section is without prejudice to the power of a functional body or the London Pensions Fund Authority to make a request under section 35(1).”

Restriction on disclosure of information: exceptions

11 (1) Section 49 shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1) (prohibition on disclosure of information except as provided in the paragraphs of that subsection) after paragraph (d) there shall be inserted—

“(dd) to the Mayor of London, where the information relates to the Greater London Authority or a functional body;”.

Interpretation and exercise of Authority functions by Mayor etc.

12 (1) Section 53 shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), the following definition shall be inserted at the appropriate place—

““functional body” means a functional body within the meaning of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (see section 424(1) of that Act);”.

(3) After subsection (4) there shall be inserted—

“(5) Any functions conferred or imposed on the Greater London Authority under or by virtue of this Act shall be functions which are exercisable by the Mayor of London acting on behalf of the Authority.

(6) Subsection (5) does not apply in relation to any function expressly conferred on the London Assembly.”