Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and the London Assembly, have jointly appointed Jeff Jacobs as the GLA's interim head of paid service. The authority's most senior officer will take over the role while a permanent replacement is sought for Anthony Mayer, who is leaving the authority after almost eight years' service. He also confirmed Harvey McGrath was to remain as chair of the London Development Agency (LDA) Board. The news comes amid allegations that the London authority is being sued for £1.6m for unfair dismissals. Eight of former-mayor Ken Livingstone's closest advisers could get an average of £200,000 each after several appointed solicitors who threatened to sue the new mayor for ‘unfair dismissal'. The payoffs are calculated on their years of service, and are so high because each was paid a minimum of £121,000 a year.
