EIR - London City Airport expansion

I am writing with a request to supply information under Freedom of Information and or Environmental Impact Assessment legislation in respect of the cost incurred by the GLA in relation to the Mayor's decision to direct Newham to refuse planning permission for the expansion of London City Airport. This decision resulted in the GLA having to commission consultants, instruct solicitors (internal and external), appoint barristers and run two public inquiries (one covering the planning refusal and the other the compulsory purchase order).



In August 2015 the Mayor approved "allocation and expenditure of up to £525,000 from the Greater London Authority's planning smoothing reserve to commission specialist external consultants (including legal) to support the preparation and presentation of the Mayor's appeal case at the forthcoming Public Inquiry into the appeal by LCA against Newham Council's refusal of its planning application for new airport and passenger infrastructure, the refusal being pursuant to the Mayor's Direction to Newham Council" (Code: MD1536).



I would like to know:



1. the cost that was incurred following that approval (MD1536) up to the point when the Secretaries of State issued their decision on 26 July 2016. Those total costs should include the cost of consultants, legal services, officer time and administrative costs (room booking, notifications, etc) associated with the preparation for and involvement in (and post) the planning public inquiry (total costs, not necessarily a breakdown).



2. the cost that was incurred associated with the separate work for the compulsory purchase public inquiry. Again total costs, but picking up consultants, legal inputs (various solicitors, barristers and the TfL instructing solicitors), officer time and administrative costs (publicity, hiring the hotel conference room, etc).



I anticipate that this should be a simple exercise, since the decision allow for £525,000 towards defending what was found to be an unreasonable decision by the then Mayor, Boris Johnson, and there was allowance for "appropriate budgetary adjustments to be made" if there were changes to the proposal. Thus an accurate record will have been kept to ensure that the requirements of the Authority's Contracts & Funding Code were adhered to and any additional funding was sought and accounted for.



I look forward to your response.