MD2205 Publication of the draft Economic Development Strategy

1.1. According to the GLA Act 1999 the Mayor must prepare, consult on and publish an Economic Development Strategy for London (see section 5).

1.2. The Mayor is asked to approve the draft Economic Development Strategy and the Integrated Impact Assessment for public consultation, which will take place between 13th December 2017 and 13th March 2018.

1.3. This MD is related to DD2146 which provided approval for the expenditure of £133,500 to support research, development, consultation and delivery of the strategy.

2.1. The draft Economic Development Strategy (EDS) sets out the Mayor’s vision for the future economy, and how that can be realised. It is a call to action to everyone with a stake in the future of London’s economy to help maximise economic growth, and the opportunities for fairness, inclusion and diversity.

2.2. The EDS has been developed alongside six other statutory strategies:

• London Environment Strategy

• London Plan

• Mayor’s Transport Strategy

• Housing Strategy

• Culture Strategy

• Health Inequalities Strategy

2.3. As part of the preparation of the EDS, a number of Impact Assessments have been undertaken to review policy options and assess the impact of proposed strategies. The Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) combines these assessments and enables all of the Mayoral strategies to work from the same baseline information. The IIA incorporates a community safety impact assessment (CSIA), equality impact assessment (EqIA), health impact assessment (HIA), and strategic environmental assessment (SEA). The IIA report will be published alongside the draft EDS for consultation.

3.1. In preparing and publishing his strategies the Mayor must comply with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, which requires the Mayor to have ‘due regard’ to the need to (i) eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; (ii) advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and (iii) foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2. Protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status (all except the last being ‘relevant’ protected characteristics). The duty may involve, in particular, removing or minimising any disadvantage suffered by those who have a relevant protected characteristic, taking steps to meet the needs of such people, and encouraging them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low, including tackling prejudice and promoting understanding. Compliance with the Act may involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without the characteristic.

3.3. The lIA, which assesses the likely equalities impact of the consultation draft EDS, will be reviewed as appropriate in the light of the responses to the consultation before the final draft strategy is submitted for approval.

4.1. There are no are no direct financial implications for the GLA arising from this proposal as the draft strategy will be published on the GLA website. It should be noted that the associated research, development, consultation and delivery of the strategy and impact assessment was previously approved by DD2146 and was supported with a budget provision of £133,500.

5.1. The Mayor has a duty under section 333F (1) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act) to prepare and publish a document to be known as the “Economic development strategy for London”.

5.2. Under section 333F(2) of the GLA Act “The Economic development strategy for London is to contain—

(a) the Mayor's assessment of the economic conditions of Greater London, and

(b) the Mayor's policies and proposals for the economic development and regeneration of Greater London, including the Mayor's strategy for—

(i) promoting business efficiency, investment and competitiveness in Greater London,

(ii) promoting employment in Greater London, and

(iii) enhancing the development of skills relevant to employment in Greater London.”

5.3. Under section 333F (3) of the GLA Act “In preparing or revising the Economic development strategy for London the Mayor must consult—

(a) such persons as appear to the Mayor to represent employers in Greater London, and

(b) such persons as appear to the Mayor to represent employees in Greater London.”

5.4. The Mayor also has a general duty under section 41 (2) of the GLA Act to keep his strategies under review and to make such revisions as he considers necessary. Section 41 sets out various requirements with which the Mayor has to comply in preparing the strategy. The Mayor must have regard to “(a) the principal purposes of the Authority; (b) the effect which the proposed strategy or revision would have on …(i) the health of persons in Greater London; (ia) health inequalities between persons living in Greater London; (ii) the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; (iii) climate change, and the consequences of climate change”. The Mayor must also have regard to: “(a) the need to ensure that the strategy is consistent with national policies , with the EU obligations of the United Kingdom and with such other international obligations of the United Kingdom as the Secretary of State may notify to the Mayor for the purposes of this paragraph; (b) the need to ensure that the strategy is consistent with [other Mayoral strategies]; (c) the resources available for implementation of the strategy; and (d) the desirability of promoting and encouraging the use of the River Thames safely, in particular for the provision of passenger transport services and for the transportation of freight”.

5.5. Under section 42 of the GLA Act, the Mayor is required to consult the London Assembly, the functional bodies of the GLA (such as Transport for London and Mayoral Development Corporations), each London borough and the City of London, and any other body or person whom he considers it appropriate to consult.

5.6. As noted in section 3 above, the Mayor must comply with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, which is described at section 3. The interim Integrated Impact Assessment includes consideration of the effects of the strategy on people with protected characteristics.

5.7. The content of the draft Economic Development Strategy, and publication of the draft Economic Development Strategy and the interim Integrated Impact Assessment for a three-month consultation period, as proposed in this decision, indicate that the matters referred to above have been substantially taken into account.

5.8. Under section 42B of the GLA Act, the Mayor must lay a copy of the (final) draft strategy before the Assembly before publishing it in final form. If, within 21 days of the laying of the copy, the Assembly by a motion agreed to by at least a two thirds majority of those voting rejects that draft strategy, the Mayor must not publish it; otherwise he may. This does not however preclude the publication of a consultation draft of the strategy, as is proposed here, for consideration by the public.

• Consultation Draft of the Economic Development Strategy

• The Integrated Impact Assessment