Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon ended 16 years on the London Assembly today with a request for more powers to be devolved to London, stating that while large parts of England are being awarded new powers, the Capital is being left behind.

Caroline Pidgeon was first elected as a Lib Dem Assembly Member in 2008 after ten years as Southwark Borough Councillor and Deputy Leader and cabinet member.

As an Assembly Member AM Pidgeon has led the Liberal Democrat Group since 2010, has been Co-Chair of the Transport Committee for 16 years, has asked 8,235 Mayoral Questions (the most of any Assembly Member ever since its establishment in 2000) and has gained a reputation for her formidable and forensic cross-examining of both the current Mayor Sadiq Khan and former Mayor Boris Johnson.

In her final Mayor’s Question today, Caroline asked the Mayor of London what he has done to lobby for further devolution for London and what further powers he would support for both the GLA as a whole and the London Assembly, which currently only serves as a scrutiny body for the Mayor of London with limited powers of its own.

The Liberal Democrats have highlighted that the UK is one of the most centralised countries in the world. They also point to figures from the London Finance Commission showing that London relies on 73.9% of its income received through central government grants. This is far higher than comparable international cities around the world, in Paris just 17.5% of income is dependent on central government grants.

In her questioning, Caroline Pidgeon called on the Mayor to set up a 3rd London Finance Commission to present to the next incoming UK Government for more fiscal devolution and options for raising finance to fund infrastructure and services in the capital. Alongside this, looking at the new Devolution deals with far-reaching new powers in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, which give the regional authorities a single funding settlement similar to Scotland and Wales.

Commenting Caroline Pidgeon AM said:

“On my final Mayor’s question after 16 years on the Assembly, I want to leave the Mayor of London and others with some ambitious targets going forward.

“Over the last few years, we have seen the UK Government announce wide-ranging devolution deals for other urban areas including single funding pots and powers covering regional rail services, health and social care.

“Meanwhile London seems to have been left behind. I want to see the Mayor of London put forward an ambitious ask of any new incoming UK Government after the General Election that will give London the powers, levers and the finances to achieve the best possible results for our residents and to truly represent the global powerhouse it is.

“It is also important to see the London Assembly granted further powers to ensure that the Mayor is properly held to account and that Londoners are truly represented in decision-making processes by our City’s leaders.”