The Greater London Authority (GLA) was established on July 3rd 2000, following a local referendum. It consists of two political branches: the executive mayoralty and the London Assembly, a 25-member cross party body tasked with holding the Mayor to account.
Some achievements which feature in the report include:
- Investigating hate crime in the capital, highlighting that up to 50 hate crimes are reported a day in London.
- Continuing our long-standing campaign against the expansion of Heathrow airport.
- Investigating accessible and inclusive transport, receiving a record number of submissions from individuals, charities, and transport groups highlighting their experience of transport in London.
- Discovering that London has almost three times the amount of modern slavery cases than any other region or country in the UK.
- Shining a light on domestic abuse amidst an alarming rise in offences across London. We supported MPs in the House of Commons to introduce an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill calling for a Register for serial stalkers and domestic abuse offenders.
- Questioning the former Fire Commissioner, Dany Cotton, about the London Fire Brigade’s response to the Grenfell Tower fire, and what improvements could be made to firefighter training in London. We continue to lobby for funding to replace or retrofit flammable cladding in properties across London.
- Analysing the catalogue of factors that contributed to Crossrail’s rising costs and on-going delay. We made a series of recommendations to ensure it is completed successfully, with learnings for future large-scale infrastructure projects.
Jennette Arnold OBE AM, Chair of the Assembly during 2019/20, said:
“The past twelve months have been an incredibly busy year for the London Assembly. We have investigated numerous issues including hate crime, the accessibility of the London’s transport network, domestic abuse, Tube dust and gender inequalities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
“The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw the Mayoral and Assembly elections in May postponed until 2021. Despite this, Assembly Members have stepped up to the new challenge. We continue our work holding the Mayor to account and representing the interests of Londoners until the new election date next year.
“The London Assembly interactive Annual Report for 2019-20 is complete with publication links, video and icons brings the achievements of the Assembly, its Members, and Committees to life.”