For those of us lucky enough to play a part in the London mayor election count, from early on, it looked as if Boris Johnson was about to take charge of the capital. For many Londoners, a key concern has been the cost of living, with tax rises which exceed inflation and residents take-home pay increases, year-on-year. Even at the beginning of the mayoral election campaign, questions were being raised about the basic governance and financial controls of the GLA and LDA. Since taking control, Mr Johnson has set up a Forensic Audit Panel to investigate financial controls at the two organisations, with an interim report due in June. Well-run local authorities of all political parties paying full and appropriate attention to value for money and real-term tax reductions have followed news reports with incredulity, and eagerly await the findings of the panel. The first casualties following the change of mayor did not take long to come through, and there will no doubt be a lot more. Many of us were delighted to hear that London's finest, Peter Rogers, will take the reigns of the LDA on an interim basis. I am sure Mr Johnson and his deputy mayor, Richard Barnes, will make sure Mr Rogers gets the full support of an excellent team to help him. Improving services does not mean increasing costs. Running London needs a focused approach which looks for real service improvements, reduced bureaucracy with ever-decreasing costs. The GLA family cost base will have a lot of low hanging fruit, so let's hope it's picked before it rots. n Richard Ennis is director of finance at Ealing LBC
