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• Question by: Brian Coleman
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

A friend of mine in the Foreign Office tells me that they find it virtually impossible to get foreign visitors in to see the Mayor. I understand he's declined to see the Mayor of Shanghai and the Mayor of Buchares

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

I'm trying to find out what powers you actually have when the Mayor is away. Supposing there was a 11 September situation, for example a plane crashed into the House of Commons, the Mayor was in Australia, all flights were postponed, as they were after 11 September, and there's you, in London, in charge. What actions could you take in such a situation?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

I was not suggesting anything like that. I was asking you what real decisions you would make. Despite the marvels of modern communication, it seems unlikely that it would be possible to communicate, even with your literary skills, precisely what was happening here in London to the Mayor, and the chances are therefore that you would have to make some decisions on your own. What kind of decisions would they be? Indeed, what decisions have you made on your own?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

I don't doubt the Mayor tells you if he's dissatisfied, but is there a formal performance appraisal process?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

So you would accept that you could not reassure Londoners, despite the fact that you are the anointed one, that the Mayor has laid his hands upon you and that he has given you full powers?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

Would you write her speeches in those circumstances?

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

Some commentators of the way the GLA Act is working have suggested that it would be more transparent for the Mayor to have the power to appoint deputies, rather than for him to be obliged to appoint an Assembly Member in the way we have at the moment. What's your view of that?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

Thank you, Simon, for that explanation, which I certainly did find helpful. Because I'm first this morning I wanted to try and establish more clearly exactly what you do in the formal sense and the lines of accountability and so on. I have some difficulty because, frankly, a lot of the questions that we would like to ask, or to which we would like to have answers, are probably more properly put to and answered by the Mayor rather than by you. But nevertheless, you are in front of us. Can I just establish for all of us some facts...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

: And is it publicly available or available to us?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 12 June 2002

I think most of us with public sector experience are aware of the need to delegate decisions to officers sometimes, but always in my experience in local government there is a scheme of delegation. You've talked about how you delegate some of your responsibilities. What I think we're more interested in is how the Mayor delegates some of his responsibilities to you as Chief of Staff. How does that happen? Is there an agreed scheme of delegation which sets the framework for this?