Cameron may adopt a Boris template

Monday, March 08, 2010

London's streamlined organisational template – developed under Boris Johnson – could be replicated at a national level if the Conservative Party wins the general election, deputy mayor Sir Simon Milton has told Public Servant's Dean Carroll.

Discussions between the mayor's office and David Cameron's leadership team are taking place on the lessons to be learned from the capital and policy areas where Johnson would like greater powers. Despite speculation over tension between the two camps, policy chief Sir Simon insisted that a Tory government could follow the mayor's lead.

"Boris took over after eight years of centre-left administration and we found that there were many opportunities to make savings without causing any real difficulty to service provision – the same may be true of national government after 12 years of Labour," said Sir Simon.

"Under the last mayor there were all sorts of initiatives started, which created duplication. It had become quite dysfunctional and we have been able to reorganise the bureaucracy. It meant we could achieve quick savings by making City Hall more productive, with clearer lines of authority and clarity over priorities."

Under Johnson's reforms, the number of staff at the Greater London Authority was reduced from 820 to 700 and the mayor's council tax precept has been frozen for two years.

Explaining the relationship with the national party, Sir Simon said: "We have certainly been speaking to David Cameron's team about a number of policy issues, in the expectation that they might be forming a government and what they might want to do.

"At the GLA, we have sharpened things up because we found lots of people working on worthy projects that we couldn't say were major priorities in a time of fiscal constraint. For example, we are putting more money into retrofitting people's homes and less into holding calendar design competitions for schools."

Looking ahead, Sir Simon said that the mayor would be lobbying the next Prime Minister for "more hands on control" over regeneration and housing budgets in the capital – areas currently controlled by the London Development Agency and Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

"The HCA might not survive the bonfire of the quangos, but there will still be housing investment and we want to make sure that, in London, the mayor is able to direct that rather than it being done in Whitehall. We would also like to have greater influence over the suburban rail franchises that serve London. It's a massive issue for people that don't have the benefit of the Tube. That issue is under-stood by the Conservative leadership and I think they would like to help – so there is a discussion going on."