Powers and Responsibilities of the GLA and the Mayor - Essay Example

?Priorities of the Office of the Mayor of London and the Greater London ity for a Sustainable Future of Environment London leads all other UK cities in terms of economic development. The city is run by the Greater London Authority which is made up of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly (Great Britain, 2007). The GLA provides city-wide leadership and also acts as the city’s voice in government. The main objective of the authority is to provide the kind of life quality that all Londoners will be happy with (Collins and Colville, 2001). The current mayor of London is Boris Johnson. In his tenure since 2008, Johnson has managed to create and implement some policies that are aimed at transforming London into one of the greenest and most energy efficient cities in the whole of Europe. Powers and Responsibilities of the GLA and the Mayor The GLA and the Mayor are responsible for matters to do with: housing, learning and skills, planning, waste management, culture, health, climate change and energy as well as water and sanitation. The GLA is responsible for ensuring that every resident of the city of London has access to good quality life. This includes proper and well maintained housing, a clean environment and easy access to public services such as healthcare and education. In its duty to keep the city friendly for its residents, the Mayor and GLA normally ensure that the infrastructure in the area is well planned and that waste is properly managed (Institute for Public Policy Research, 1997). It is also the duty of the authority to ensure that open and public spaces remain as clean as possible so that the residents can relax comfortably safely. Another important duty of the Greater London Authority and the Mayor is to ensure that the city operates by international environmental standards. This means that the authority is responsible for looking into and tackling any issues regarding climate change and the environment in all corners of the city. All in all, it is the responsibility of the city’s authority to ensure that all Londoners are aware of the part that everyone has to play in order to make London greener and cleaner (Collins and Colville, 2001). Environmental Policies The GLA and the Mayor of London have tried in earnest to ensure that the environmental condition is such that all Londoners live a quality life free of any kind of pollution and irritants that are characteristic of most major cities all across the world (Johnson, 2008). Some of the environmental issues that have plagued the city for a long time include the lack of enough public space, development pressure, air pollution, noise pollution, litter and graffiti. Although the city of London is well known for its greenness, there is a big problem in how Londoners access green spaces for relaxation purposes. Government funding for green spaces and public parks has been on the decline for the last ten or so years and this has led to the depletion of these important resources (Johnson, 2009). Development has also been a big problem to London’s green environment. Pressure for new housing and public infrastructure expansion has seen most of the open green areas being cleared. The loss of green spaces has also led to the loss of wildlife that relies of these spaces for survival. Air pollution has also been a big problem for the city for a very long time, but there are measures in place to ensure that the air quality improves. Noise is also blighting many of the city’s beautiful features. Most of this noise comes from the streets and the airports. According to the World Health Organization, at least 25% of London’s population is affected by noise that is way above the organization’s standards (Greater London Authority, 2010). The Mayor’s Vision for a Better Environment In his mayoral campaigns and post-campaign strategies, the mayor laid down his vision for what he considered a better and greener environment. According to Johnson (2008), some of the plans he had for the city include: 1. Greening the city’s streets and improving the appearance of spaces 2. Protecting the city’s all important biodiversity 3. Protecting, preserving and making London waterways better and safer 4. Improving the city’s air quality 5. Reducing day to day irritations such as clutter, noise, litter and graffiti 6. Encouraging Londoners to respect and take care of the environment Johnson became mayor under a platform of political as well as environmental policy changes. In his election campaigns, he had promised to protect and preserve all the open spaces in the city. Under this campaign, Johnson had promised to use the power invested in him as the city’s mayor to care for the green belt and fight against developments on the city’s gardens. He had also planned to invest some 6 million pounds in efforts to clean the environment and making it safer for both humans and wildlife. Also among his promises for protecting and preserving the open spaces was making an investment in the planting of 10,000 trees along the streets of London (Johnson, 2009). Another of the mayor’s policy statements was to make it easier to reduce and recycle waste materials. To do this, the mayor planned to promote some new schemes for waste recycling. The mayor also planned to create a close working relationship with the boroughs in London in a bid to reduce the amount of garbage that was disposed off in landfills (Greater London Authority, 2011). Another strategy that the mayor wanted to follow in the reduction of waste was to support the ban or limited use of plastic bags. Another policy of that the mayor had was geared towards making transport more environmental friendly and sustainable. To be able to do this, the mayor planned to promote the use of hybrid buses and device ways to ensure that traffic moved more smoothly as this would reduce emissions (Johnson, 2008). Tackling the issue of climate change was also part of the mayor’s pledges and policies for the people living in the city of London. The objective of this policy is to ensure that carbon emissions are reduced by 60% by the year 2025. The mayor hoped to achieve this by encouraging efficient use of energy and reducing the city’s congestion. The mayor also introduced a Mayor’s Prize for any innovative idea from students, which could be used to cut carbon emissions (Johnson, 2009). In addition to the environmental policies mentioned above, the mayor also had in the pipeline plans to revive old public parks and upgrade the ones that are currently in use. GLA undertook a tree planting initiative whose objective was to plant 10,000 new streets on all of London’s streets. This will in effect increase the tree cover in London to 25% by the year 2025. This tree planting initiative was seen as a way by which the authority could make the city greener and at the same time help fight against climate change (Johnson, 2009). The authority over the last five years has also been able to increase the size of the existing public space. The mayor has already set aside 225 million pounds meant for public space projects. GLA has also been able to effectively install energy efficient lighting in the world famous Trafalgar Square. The city’s traffic lights have been replaced by energy saving LEDs. Another environmental achievement that the authority has been able to accomplish is the reduction of carbon emissions. The mayor has also undertaken a campaign to promote the use of energy efficient means of transport so as to clean the air and help fight against climate change (Energy Efficiency News, 2011). Gap between Policy, Public Policy Initiatives and General Practice Although the GLA and the Mayor have created some environmental friendly policies that are meant to ensure that the city of London is transformed into one of the greenest cities in the world, some gaps do exist between policy, policy initiatives and general practice. This gap exists mainly due to the lack of awareness amongst the general population on the policies that the Mayor and his team at city hall have put in place to ensure that London becomes the green city it is meant to be. This gap is even more pronounced due to the lack of proper funding for some of the policy initiatives that the GLA and the Mayor have come up with (Institute for Public Policy Research, 1997). Although there are policies in place, the energy use in this English city’s homes remains quite high. The home consumption of energy stands at 42% of the entire city’s total energy use. There is also the problem of inefficient use of water among the city’s residents. The current water usage is 167 litres for every person, which is about 14% higher compared with the rest of the country. This is despite spirited efforts by Johnson and the GLA to improve water efficiency in London (Johnson, 2009). Household waste, while it has reduced over the last five years, it still posed a great challenge to the environment since it constitutes about 49 percent of the entire waste city’s rubbish. The carbon dioxide emissions are also very high at 5.9 tonnes per person every year. These challenges abound despite the fact that there are well formulated policies that offer guidelines on how to deal with them (Greater London Authority, 2011). Some of the public policy initiatives that the authority and the mayor are undertaking to ensure that the City of London is transformed into an enviable green city includes carrying out public awareness campaigns on environmental policies that will ensure people are fully committed to the idea of a green and clean city (Johnson, 2008). However, to bridge the gap between the policies and their implementation, more needs to be done to ensure that these policies are implemented and all initiatives concerned with environmental issues achieve their objectives. To do this, the residents of London need to be fully involved in making their city cleaner and greener. For instance, for the waste management policies to work, they have to be simplified so that they are applicable in parts if the city. The mayor and other authority figures at the City Hall also need to involve the townspeople in the implementation of all policies touching on the environment. Getting everyone to take part in the effort to improve the environment will not only make implementation of the policies easier, it will also ensure that people appreciate living in a clean and well maintained world (Institute for Public Policy Research, 1997). Despite these challenges faced by the city of London in terms of environmental management, there are a number of achievements that the GLA has accomplished. These include the tree planting initiative which has seen the city become even greener than it was before. The city now looks like a big green park due to the beautification initiatives by the Mayor and GLA (Greater London Authority, 2011). Another area that has seen major improvement since the current mayor took over is energy efficiency. There have been awareness campaigns from city hall to the rest of the city on the need for people to adapt environmental friendly energy sources. This has helped in the reduction of Carbon dioxide emissions over the last five years (Greater London Authority, 2010). Students’ Opinions Most of the students who were asked about what they thought about the mayor’s and GLA’s achievement in providing a clean a green environment said that the authority had scored quite well in their tree planting initiatives. Most of them were also unanimous in their vote of confidence in the Mayor’s efforts to protect and preserve public spaces (Johnson, 2008). The students were confident that the policies that were put in place to protect and preserve these parks and public spaces have borne fruit. Some of them even said that they enjoyed spending their time in and around the public spaces. A few students said that they had noticed fliers informing residents to use energy efficient appliances and other electronics. They said that this could help in the city’s objective of reducing emissions, but they also admitted that they had not noticed any changes in the atmosphere to suggest that there was a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Many students also applauded the mayor’s efforts to introduce and promote environmental friendly means of public transport (Energy Efficiency News, 2011). Many said that they had considered cycling as a means of transport to and from their classes. However, not many students are quite enthusiastic about the proposed initiative to ban plastic bags. Most of them claim that plastic bags are quit affordable and they can be managed in such a way that they do not have to cause any damage to the environment. Some of the students even volunteered to carry out recycling campaigns around the campus to tell people not to throw away their plastic bags but to keep them for recycling. The students were also not happy with the mayor’s decision to impose stringent laws on noise pollution (Dominiczak, 2011). Many of them complained that young people were the most affected by this law which seeks to reduce noise pollution by restricting the level of sound that can be heard in any establishment. They wanted the mayor to reconsider his decision to impose on the city a policy that inflicts what they considered exaggerated punishment for an offence such as noise pollution. Despite various dissenting voices among students on some of the environmental laws proposed by the GLA and the city’s mayor, it is clear that the environment has continued to change for the better due to the authority’s initiatives. The residents of London have an opportunity to enjoy quality life in a safe environment. There is need to create awareness among the London masses on the importance of their support in ensuring that the environment is protected and preserved. They should be encouraged to play their role in ensuring that there is less pollution and the environment looks green, clean and fresh at all times (Greater London Authority, 2010). Conclusion As a leading economic city among all other UK cities, London is faced with the problems that many other top urban areas face in many other parts of the world. London is lucky to have a strong authority that is fully empowered to tackle most of the environmental issues that are of concern to Londoners. During the last five years, GLA and the city’s mayor have been at the forefront campaigning for a better environment that will make the lives of people living in the city more worthwhile. The authority and the mayor have been able to take care of some of the environmental problems that the city was facing. There are policies that were drawn to ensure that London attains world class standardization in terms of environmental care. However, as much as the GLA has been equivocal in its championing for a better environment for all Londoners, there still remains a lot to be done. The effectiveness of the GLA in tackling some of the most pressing issues on the environment are hindered by a meagre budget, which makes it difficult for the mayor and the authority to implement many of its policies. The mayor and the GLA also have to face with the challenge of running a city that is almost overpopulated, hence making it hard for them to manage the environment as effectively as they should. When these challenges are addressed, the GLA and London City’s Mayor will be in a much better position to offer better services that will ensure that each and every Londoner enjoys living in a clean environment. Reference List Collins, S. and Colville, I. 2001. A Guide to the Greater London Authority. London: Sweet & Maxwell Dominiczak, P. 2011. Are Boris’ Thames Estuary Plans a Fantasy Worth Realizing? London Evening Standard, Accessed 19 July 2011: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23969866-boriss-fantasy-island-are-the-mayors-thames-estuary-plans-growing-in-popularity.do Energy Efficiency News. 2011. Policy: London Cuts Energy Use 10% over the Last Decade. Accessed 19 July 2011: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/policy/i/4254/ Great Britain. 2007. Greater London Authority Act 2007: Chapter 24. London: Oxford University Press. Greater London Authority. 2010. Greater London Authority Functional Bodies, London Assembly, London Plan, Mayors of London, Transport for London. London: General Books LLC Greater London Authority. 2011. Taking Bold Steps to Realize the Vision of a Greener London. Accessed 19 July, 2011: http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/environment/vision-strategy Institute for Public Policy Research. 1997. The Greater London Authority: Principles and Organizational Structure. London: Institute for Public Policy Research Johnson, B. 2008. Protecting our Local Environment: A Cleaner Greener London. Accessed 19 July 2011: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2009/04/27/environ._final.pdf Johnson, B. 2009. Leading to a Greener London: An Environmental Programme for the Capital. Accessed 19 July, 2011: http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/leading-greener-london-300709.pdf Read More