ABSTRACT
The Mayor is under a duty to prepare, keep under review and revise strategies relating to transport, the London Development Agency, spatial development (planning),58 the London Biodiversity Action Plan, municipal waste management, air quality, ambient noise, and culture.59 In preparing or revising strategies, the Mayor must consult the Assembly, the functional bodies, each London borough council, the Common Council of the City of London and any other ‘appropriate person or body’. Adequate publicity must be given to the strategies, and copies provided to the Common Council and each London borough council. The Secretary of State may issue directions to the Mayor to prepare and publish any strategy which the Mayor has not prepared and to stipulate the period in which the strategy must be prepared.60 The Greater London Authority Act 2007 extends the duties and powers of the Mayor.61 The Mayor is now under a duty to prepare and publish a Health Inequalities Strategy and a Housing Strategy.62 The Mayor is also given additional powers in relation to planning. He or she is entitled to intervene in local planning authority’s development schemes and is empowered to determine planning applications which are of ‘potential strategic importance’, taking over the role of the local planning authority.63 In addition, under the Further Education and Training Act 2007 the Mayor is given a new role in adult skills and employment in London. New powers of appointment in relation to the Metropolitan Police Authority are provided under the Police and Justice Act 2006.
