The 25-strong London Assembly is a waste of money and should be scrapped to save nearly £7 million a year, says a left-wing think-tank.

The New Local Government Network, led by Chris Leslie who co-ordinated Gordon Brown’s leadership campaign, argues that the assembly members, who are up for election on May 1, do not do enough to justify their £50,000 earnings.

Much of their work is spent compiling “superfluous” reports and investigations that have little impact, the network’s report says. It proposes instead that Ken Livingstone or his successor as Mayor of London should be held to account by the leaders of the 32 London boroughs. They would meet at least four times a year, and have the power to approve, amend or veto the mayor’s budget.

Crucially, the budget could be passed only by a clear majority of council leaders in inner and outer London. The council leaders would also have scrutiny over the London Development Agency, the Metropolitan Police and Transport for London.

The 25 assembly members are elected every four years, either to one of 14 constituencies or via a “top-up” list that allocates 11 further seats depending on each party’s strength across the capital. At present there are nine Conservatives, seven Labour, five Liberal Democrats, two Green and two One London members. Although few seats are expected to change hands on May 1 there are fears that the BNP could get a seat from the top-up list.

Tomorrow’s report says that scrapping the assembly members would save at least £6.6 million, which would put an extra 165 police on the streets or give all 6,000 homeless people a £250 grant to use as a rental deposit.

After the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1985 all powers were devolved to London boroughs, but in 1997 the Labour Government introduced the London Assembly to scrutinise the mayor. The report, written by James Hulme, says that some of the assembly’s work has had merit, such as its investigation into the emergency services’ response to the London bombings but he queries investigations such as “Why and how free shopping bags should be removed from London’s shops” or “The impact of the droit de suite on London’s art market”.

Mr Hulme says the policymaking part of the assembly could be done by a London regional select committee of London MPs who could investigate the work and policies of the mayor. “The crux of the problem is that members simply don’t have enough to do to justify full-time engagement and as a result they may be spending time compiling superfluous investigations and reports that generally have little impact on the work of the London mayor or help to inform wider policies,” said Mr Hulme.

Chris Leslie, NLGN director and former Labour minister, said: “The London elections give us a good opportunity to take stock of how the mayor is scrutinised and by whom. It is hard to justify employing 25 full-time politicians when local council leaders could scrutinise the mayor as effectively.”

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