Greater London Authority meaning

The LMG, representing all London insurance firms, noted that businesses are starting to recognise how the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are shifting to meet their new aims. The two watchdogs are now tasked with lifting the financial sector’s relative competitiveness by cutting bureaucracy and tolerating greater risk. However, on 14 October 2025 the LMG stressed there must be ongoing scrutiny of both regulators to confirm they are fulfilling the mandate. Caroline Wagstaff, the LMG’s chief executive, said the FCA and PRA have ‘talked extensively’ about embedding a mindset of growth and competitiveness. ‘Their...

Background The Bill sits within the government’s wider drive to devolve power and bolster decision-making at local and regional levels. This programme was trailed in the King’s Speech and taken forward through the English Devolution White Paper of December 2024, which proposed handing substantial planning and infrastructure responsibilities to newly designated strategic authorities. The White Paper pledged to reinstate strategic planning across England, after years without a cross-boundary framework beyond London. It further set out intentions to finish the devolution map, establish a new layer of ‘strategic authorities’, and provide them with more coherent powers for planning, infrastructure, housing and growth. Key planning provisions Strategic authorities and tiers of devolution The Bill introduces a new class of Strategic Authority, spanning Combined authorities, Combined County authorities (CCAs), the Greater London Authority, and specified unitary authorities where designated. These are arranged into three tiers: Foundation Strategic Authorities — for places without an elected Mayor; access to limited functions Mayoral Strategic Authorities — for areas with...

Editor’s note Welcome to the second instalment of the Public Law case law quarterly for 2025, spanning the year’s second quarter. We open with the Supreme Court’s ruling in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers, confirming that ‘sex’ in the EqA 2010 denotes biological sex, and that holders of Gender Recognition Certificates (GRCs) are not included within the definition of their acquired gender for the purposes of the EqA 2010. This is a significant judgment on the meaning of the EqA 2010 and on discrimination law, with particular implications for women and trans people. It warrants careful attention from all involved in or advising on discrimination issues, especially employers, service providers and public authorities. We then examine Abbasi v Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Haastrup v King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, where the Supreme Court considered how to strike a balance between anonymity—specifically injunctions limiting the naming of clinicians engaged in end of life care—and freedom of expression in litigation involving NHS Trusts. ...

Planning responsibilities across the Greater London area are discharged by the following: the Mayor of London (the Mayor) the 32 London Boroughs the City of London Corporation two Mayoral Development Corporations for specific areas The government has issued guidance on the legislation and scrutiny of Mayoral Development Corporations operating within combined authorities and within combined county authorities. Powers under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 The Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLAA 1999) established a Greater London Assembly for the Greater London Area, with the objective of promoting economic and social development in Greater London and improving the environment across the area. The GLAA 1999 further provides for a directly elected Mayor, empowered to undertake any of the authority’s important functions on its behalf, and who holds responsibility for strategic governance in London. The planning functions are set out in GLAA 1999, Pt VIII, as well as in subordinate legislation. These functions relate to: strategic planning...

Local authorities This Practice Note identifies which local authorities may authorise and regulate on-street parking, stressing that the competence is confined to roads and requires the consent of the highway authority or any other person charged with maintaining the road. It also sets out how councils can impose charges for designated on-street parking places, including through parking meters and other parking devices. At common law, leaving a vehicle on a highway constitutes an obstruction of the public right of passage, yet stopping has always been permitted for loading and unloading, and (for reasonable periods) during meal breaks or where there is mechanical breakdown. In any case, it is arguably not a genuine obstruction (ie not a nuisance at common law) if there is ample space for traffic to pass the parked vehicle. The Road Traffic Regulation Acts addressed this by authorising certain local authorities to allow on-street parking. With permission came regulation and, in turn, parking charges. Outside Greater London, the bodies empowered to permit and control on-street...

This Practice Note summarises the law on licensing of sex establishments across England and Wales, together with London-specific variations. It also describes enforcement powers and how local policies are applied to oversee these establishments. What is a sex establishment? The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 (LG(MP)A 1982), as amended, recognises four distinct categories of ‘sex establishment’: sex cinemas sex shops sex entertainment venues (following amendments introduced by the Policing and Crime Act 2009) hostess bars (following amendments introduced by the London Local Authorities Act 2007 (LLAA 2007)) Hostess bars are confined geographically to Greater London. Sex cinemas A sex cinema is any premises, vehicle, vessel or stall used to a significant extent for showing moving pictures, however produced, that are principally concerned with portraying, or primarily deal with or relate to, or are intended to stimulate or encourage sexual activity; or acts of force or restraint associated with sexual activity; or that are chiefly concerned with...