Royal Albert Dock - London & Partners

“This Assembly recognises the important role that London & Partners – the official promotional company for London – plays in attracting businesses, events, students and visitors to our capital.

This Assembly also notes:

i. that London & Partners continues to be majority funded by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and has received over £50 million of funding from the GLA since the organisation was launched in April 2011; and

ii. that the Mayor has committed to making London government more transparent and believes the GLA should lead the way in “transparency and openness”.

This Assembly believes  

i. that there is a fundamental public interest in seeing how public money is being spent in order to demonstrate whether, and how, value for money is being achieved; and 

ii. that, notwithstanding the outcome of the Assembly’s independent investigation into the Royal Albert Dock tendering process (and London & Partners involvement in that process), a number of immediate steps can be taken to improve London & Partners’ accountability to Londoners.  

This Assembly therefore calls on the Mayor of London to write to London & Partners instructing them to: 

i. abide by the principles of the GLA Group Corporate Governance Framework; 

ii. publish a register of gifts, expenses and hospitality for all board members and senior staff; 

iii. proactively disclose information and to respond to requests for information as if they were covered by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA);

iv. provide the Assembly’s Budget and Performance Committee with a full business plan during the course of its annual scrutiny of the Mayor’s budget; and

v. provide the GLA Oversight Committee with full details of senior employee pay, as previously requested.

This Assembly further calls on the Mayor to make these points a condition of providing any future funding to London & Partners.”