MD2595 GLA Group Capital Spending Plan for 2020-21

The Mayor is required to prepare a capital spending plan for the GLA’s functional bodies and to send it to the Secretary of State (for Housing, Communities and Local Government) and the London Assembly before 28 February in the financial year preceding that to which it relates in accordance with section 123 of the GLA Act. This report seeks the Mayor’s approval for the final capital spending plan for 2020-21.

The draft capital spending plan for 2020-21 was issued for consultation on 18 December 2019 alongside the Mayor’s consultation budget. Responses to the consultation budget were invited from the Budget and Performance Committee of the London Assembly, businesses and members of the public. The Mayor has noted all the comments from respondents to the consultation and considered them before finalising his budget and capital spending plan for 2020-21.

The capital spending plan figures in the final draft consolidated budget considered by the Assembly at its plenary meeting on 24 February 2020 included revised capital expenditure figures for the GLA and MOPAC. The final capital spending plan for 2020-21 proposed for approval is unchanged from the version considered by the Assembly on 24 February.

The borrowing limits and statutory prudential indicators for 2020-21 which the Mayor is required to set for the GLA and functional bodies will be submitted for approval by the Mayor before the end of March 2020.

The objective of this decision is to invite the Mayor’s approval of the capital spending plan he has prepared, and to meet the statutory requirement placed upon him to send the plan to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, London Assembly and the functional bodies before 28 February.

A copy of the final capital spending plan for 2020-21 will also be placed on the GLA website at:
www.london.gov.uk/budget.

As public bodies, the GLA and the functional bodies must comply with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, which provides for the “public sector equality duty”. This duty requires each public body to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, to advance equality of opportunity, and to foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. The relevant protected characteristics covered by section 149 are: age; disability; gender reassignment; pregnancy and maternity; race; sex; religion or belief; and sexual orientation. Compliance with the duty may involve, in particular, removing or minimising any disadvantage suffered by those who share 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. This may involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without the characteristic.

The duty has applied to the formulation and approval of the GLA’s and functional bodies’ individual budgets and capital spending plans. Part 3 to the final draft budget provided detailed advice on the equalities implications of the Mayor’s final draft budget relevant to their proposed capital spending plans.

How the GLA Group capital spending plan for 2020-21 will impact on persons who share a protected characteristic will be dependent on the specific decisions of the GLA and the functional bodies in regard to their individual capital programmes. In exercising their functions, including when making policy and spending decisions, the bodies are required to comply with the public sector equality duty. Compliance is necessarily iterative and on-going. It includes carrying out a process to identify and actively consider potential detrimental impacts (if any) that may arise for individual protected groups and what mitigations (if any) could be implemented to address them at a level proportionate to the decision being taken. The GLA and functional bodies will continue to carry out this process at a budget and capital spending plan level, and in the implementation of their individual strategies, policies, programmes, projects and expenditure.

Consultation responses

As set out above, the Mayor consulted on the 2020-21 budget - including the capital spending plan - with the London Assembly, London boroughs, the Corporation of London and other key stakeholders between 18 December 2019 and 15 January 2020. The consultation was placed on the GLA’s website and sent to the bodies and key stakeholders mentioned above.

The Mayor has considered and taken into account the comments from respondents to the consultation including the London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee before finalising his capital spending plan for 2020-21.

Risks

There are no further implications for risk management as these have been addressed as part of the budgetary process.

These are highlighted so far as they are relevant in the capital spending plan for 2020-21.

The Mayor is required, under section 122 of the GLA Act, each financial year to prepare a capital spending plan (the Plan) for each functional body of the GLA Group which must be published before 28 February. Section 122 sets out the required contents of Sections A to D of the Plan in terms of estimates of receipts, borrowing and expenditure, and this appears in Table 1 of the Plan.

In preparing the Plan the Mayor may take into account such factors as appear to him to be appropriate and the other matters listed in section 124 of the GLA Act. These are: (1) the minimum amount of grant which the GLA is to pay to the body for the year under section 120 of the GLA Act; (2) the amounts to be transferred to the body under section 32(5) of the Local Government Act 2003 (Mayor's power to transfer expenditure grant).

In particular the Mayor may take account of: (a) the capital spending plans for such financial years which have ended as he may determine; and (b) the amounts of each functional body's total capital spending specified in section C of each of those plans which have been met as follows: the amount met out of capital grants made to the body; the amount met out of grants under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 (expenditure grant) made to the body; the amount met out of the body's capital receipts; the amount met by borrowing or entering into or varying credit arrangements; and the amount met by making a charge to a revenue account.

The Mayor fulfilled the requirement to consult the Assembly and each functional body by 15 January 2020. The Mayor has also had regard to their comments (if any) before determining the final Plan. The final capital spending plan for the forthcoming financial year must be approved before 28 February, when copies must be sent to the Secretary of State, the Assembly and functional bodies, and a copy must be kept at City Hall for inspection by the public for the next 6 years.