Greater London Authority and The Mayor - Essay Example

? GREATER LONDON ITY AND THE MAYOR By 7th, November, Brief Review The government of England signed a consultation agreement with the local authority of London, which was entitled “Greater London Authority” on 30 November 2005. This was a plan wherein the government sought to add more powers to and responsibilities to the mayor of London as well as the assembly responsible for the administration of the entire London city. The main agenda behind the proposal was to give the mayor city of London more powers and authority to take charge of the issues that affected the city such as housing, planning, waste management, and to empower the people of London with the necessary skills with the aim to improve the welfare of the people of London. The mayor of London was bestowed with the authority to take over the strategic roles and responsibility that would oversee the performance of different departments. In this consultative agreement, the mayor was assigned a major role to stimulate socio-economic expansion and development of the environment (Imrie, 2009). Moreover, the mayor was endorsed with the role of setting legislative strategies on various sectors in London such as transport, planning, and waste management. The aim of the statutory strategies was to improve the welfare of the people of London city as well as increase the power of the mayor of London. Moreover, the mayor was made responsible for setting up the budget of the city and the entire Greater London Authority. Moreover, the mayor was to oversee the budget planning of the subsidiaries of Greater London Authority such as the London Development Agency (LDA), the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), Transport for London (TfL). In this agreement, the mayor was also responsible for appointing boards for the TfL, and LDA (Allmendinger, 2006). Literature Review Following the agreement, the mayor formulated policies that gave support to the development of sustainable environment. The aim of these policies was to facilitate well-organized age group use, and supply of energy in London. In addition, the aim of these policies by the mayor was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to deal with issues of climate change. Change of climate has been one of the most daring threats for the lives of the people of London city. Furthermore, London is challenged by lack of fuels therefore necessitating the formation of policies which would that would emphasis on the environment especially the issues that facilitate preservation of the surroundings for better well-being among the people (Greater London Authority, 2010). In his policy, the mayor of London was supposed to develop a legislative responsibility that permits formulation of strategies that favor energy policies that are auspicious to the environment. The policies would achieve this through distribution of energy efficiency expenses to meet the wants of diverse individuals in the city. Recent research has predicted that water will be an unavailable resource in London owing to climate change and the growth of population in the region. The policies have led to the formation of Mayor’s Water Action Framework that is accountable for the regulation of water price limits in London (Greater London Authority, 2010). According to The Greater London Authority (2010), the framework molded would function under the leadership of environment agency. It is mandatory that all issues related to energy sources and water distribution be environmentally friendly in order to safeguard the well-being of the people of London is enhanced. It is imperative to take into consideration that manufacturing firms can easily contaminate the environs through emission of fumes such as Carbon IV oxide, which destroys the ozone layer. Furthermore, discarding waste products such as chemical compounds, which are by-products of manufacturing processes, can also contaminate the surroundings through pollution of water particularly in the rivers and springs (Greater London Authority, 2010). Therefore, the Mayor and the Greater London Authority has come up with policies that reduce the rate water and air pollution by addressing the production activities in the city. The city of London is known for its dynamism in culture. This has made the city to be among the best cities in the world, to work, live, and go to for holidays. Over and above seven million persons, live in London. Besides, the city welcomes more than twenty six million people every year. London has huge tourist attraction cites such as inimitable parks, unique buildings and river views (Greater London Authority, 2010). The Greater London Authority and the Mayor notes there are various challenges that the people of London have to undergo on daily basis that have led to the formulation of the policies, which support the improvement of policies and welfare for London dwellers. The greatest trial facing the Greater London Authority and the mayor is climate change. This has made it necessary for London to develop measures that ensure that the city will have good conditions for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2012 (Greater London Authority, 2010). Therefore, the environment of the city of London has become an important subject of concern, as the city will have to balance between decongesting the city and providing better working conditions for the city. Moreover, the Greater London Authority and the mayor have to ensure that diverse arrays of wildlife and the cleanliness of River Thames cannot be ignored. Their policies will also aim at creating awareness among the people of London to create a clean environment that will require participation of each person in London. Recent reports by the mayor of London have addressed existing issues that have taken place in the last for years. Moreover, the report looks at the issues, which are likely to come up in the future (Greater London Authority, 2010). According to Hall (1997), various indicators of development such as public transport, renewable energy, water, and air, have experienced developments over the last few years. London has a good reputation of maintaining a friendly environment. Besides, the city has drastically reduced the reliance of cars as a means of transport and look for better and environmentally friendly means of transport such as electric train. This approach means that more work needs to be done on additional matters to oversee the achievement of a friendly environment. Such problems include, landfill, improvement of air quality, leakage and prevention of litter, street cleanliness, and reduction of water consumption (Hall, 1997). Allmendinger (2006) notes that these guidelines have put it forth various issues that needs to be addressed in order for London to become a first class ecological world city. Dealing with microclimate and macroclimate alteration in London is the prime agenda for the mayor of London. The past four years have been practiced by amplified determinations to oversee dissimilar features of London’s environment. Improved plans have been expressed to ensure effective energy utilization, improved air quality, reprocessing of water for restoration of the river. In order to achieve these progresses, the mayor, who forms policies, has developed five strategies proposal, targets, and priorities, which makes London a cleaner, greener, and ecological city to live in (Allmendinger, 2006). The developed policies and strategies by the Greater London Authority and the mayor have taken into consideration different phases comprising waste management, biodiversity, and pollution of noise and air quality. Moreover, the mayor of the city of London has published Animal Welfare and the Tree and Woodland Outlines in addition to water strategy. The main message in his report specified that the society of London must not lessen their standards of living but instead, they ought to enable implementation of standards, which preserve the surroundings (Imrie, 2009). It also takes into consideration that all persons must have roles to play in shifting from high-energy use, which is an uneconomical model to one that gives provisions for marginal depletion of energy to enable proficiency in processes of diverse business operations. Different legislations have been formed to take care of extenuation for climate changes have converted to be valuable in growth process. Therefore, the policies formed by Greater London Authority and the mayor and implemented in London have become effective in combating climate change and improve the welfare of the people of London. Moreover, the mayor of the city of London is required by the law to issue a report on the environs of the city of London every four years (Hall, 1997). According to a previous report issued by the Greater London Authority Act in 1999, it shows that the mayor of London have a huge role to play in ensuring that the city of London maintains a green environment to develop the wellbeing of diverse persons that includes the Londoners, foreigners and extra people who are not inhabitants of the city. This act recommended that the mayor of the city of London should take into consideration a wide range of information such as quality of air and abridged discharges to evade pollution from road traffic. Moreover, high quality of water should be upheld through insignificant pollution by discharges from manufacturing firms and other correlated wastes (Allmendinger, 2006). To maintain a green capital is the first environmental report by the mayor that was issued in year 2003. The aim of the mayor was to uphold a model sustainable city to increase the prosperity of different people in London. Another report by the mayor was principally founded on the opinions that Greater London’s Authority has the mandate of organizing transport services, planning, and maintaining the environment. An Analysis of the Gap There has been different research and studies conducted in London in the last few years. However, all the researches have shown that all the emissions of carbon oxide have reduced by 1.5% even though the overall populations have grown by 0.7million people since 2007. These changes are because of reduced industrial activity in London city even though it has affected the lives of the dwellers adversely. A recent survey conducted in 2006 shows that the emission of carbon amounted to 5.8 tons per occupants of the city, which is a 40% lower than the normal England emissions per capita (Hall, 1997). Moreover, there has been an increase in the overall energy use in London since the first State of Environmental Report was published. This has occurred because the population of the city of London has increased. The mayor has specified that it is significant to suggest determined and newly recognized aims for London for steadying the discharges below 60 % by 2025 to assist in prevention of catastrophic climate. The most common cause of Carbon IV Oxide emanations in London is the use of energy in existing homes, which stands at 38%. Compared to previous statistics, this shows that utilization of energy in various London households has to be reduced to meet the set targets (Imrie, 2009). Regarding the industrial and allied sector, the report shows that industries added close to 40% of all the carbon discharged in the air. Moreover, the emissions caused by the transport industry in London have stayed steady at 22% since 1990 because of the high levels of public transport use. Code of practice of emissions has lessened the rate of greenhouse gas emissions in the city and consequently the standards of living for people have improved. The city of London has an operative source of water, which has contributed meaningfully to conservation of uncontaminated environs for upgrading of the wellbeing of diverse people in London. London has four different water companies, which are mandated with the authority to oversee effective water supply in the city. The chief sources of water in the city are rivers Lee and Thames that makes available about 80% of all the water used up in London city (Allmendinger, 2006; Imrie, 2009). Survey of Opinions Various interpretations and opinions regarding the mayor’s ambitions have emerged from different people across the world. Mostly, these opinions targets towards ambitions, visions, policies, and strategies, which are directed towards a greener London. The majority of the people believe that the strategies put forth by mayor and the Greater London Authority will play a major role in achieving the set targets and objectives of achieving a greener London city. According to the GSM students, the plan and objectives of the mayor are outlined will play a major role in achieving a greener London city, and obtaining the long-term objectives. Conclusions The greater London Authority is an organization responsible for the upkeep of a clean environment around London and its environs. The organization is responsible for facilitating effective standards of living among the people of London. Moreover, the mayor has been given the major role of promoting social-economic development and improving the environment around London. Moreover, he has been mandated with the duty of setting up legislative policies on important areas in London such as waste management in the city, planning and transport with the aim of improving the welfare of the people of London city. The statistics concerning the release of carbon oxide from various sources such as transport and industries shows that the mayor has a hard task ahead of him. We can also learn that the mayor is fully focused to facilitate effective maintenance and rehabilitation of London city. Moreover, the mayor of London is required to publish a report on the performance of the environment in every four years. The greater London authority has formulated policies and laws which tend to make all people liable for maintaining and conserving the environment. An Act formulated in 1999 requires that mayor of London to include a wide range of information that encompasses the quality of air in London, road traffic, and the quality of water consumed in London. He is also to formulate policies, which minimize noise pollution, dumping of litter and conserve natural resources. Works Cited Allmendinger, 2006, Territory, Identity and Space: Spatial Governance in a Fragmented Nation, 1 ed, Taylor & Francis, London. Greater London Authority, 2010, The Mayor’s State of Environment Report for London. Viewed Nov 06, 2012, Hall, W 1997, The Greater London Authority: Principles and Organisational Structure. 1 ed, Institute for Public Policy Research, London. Imrie, L 2009, Regenerating London: Governance, Sustainability and Community, 1 ed, Taylor & Francis, London. Read More