London mayor Sadiq Khan taken to task for more than doubling Night Czar Amy Lamé’s pay

Sadiq Khan was taken to task today for doubling the pay of his Night Czar Amy Lamé, even though she is yet to meet with all of the London boroughs.

The mayor was quizzed this afternoon by London Assembly member Susan Hall, who said Lamé had only met with 18 of the 32 London boroughs during her time in office. Lamé has only held five night surgeries.

Read more: Amy Lame under pressure for slow start on London’s night-time economy

Lamé’s pay was more than doubled to £75,000 in September. She previously worked two and a half days a week for £35,000, and is now a full-time employee.

I’ve just been questioning @sadiqkhan about why he’s doubled the pay of his ally Amy Lame to £75k per year. As usual he had lots to say but no answers. #MQT— Susan Hall AM (@Councillorsuzie) December 14, 2017

But City Hall Conservatives have been angered by the news that she has also taken on a second job, replacing Jarvis Cocker on his show on BBC Radio 6.

They have also criticised her failure to halt the pace of pub closures across the capital. According to the Campaign for Real Ale, 139 pubs have closed in 2017, up from 130 in the prior year.

Speaking to Khan at mayor’s question time, Hall said: “I would have thought your Night Czar would have wanted to meet all of the boroughs.”

Khan responded by saying Lamé was meeting as many community leaders as possible, adding that her list of meetings was “a very long list”.