Lee Jasper
Encyclopedia
Lee Jasper is a British
Black activist and former Senior Policy Advisor on Equalities to the Mayor of London
. He resigned on 4 March 2008 following publication by the Evening Standard
of personal emails that were illegally acquired.
He was the subject of extensive inquiries conducted between December 2007 and June 2009 in relation to the sum of £510,000 given by the London Development Agency
to south London's Brixton Base project. At the time London Mayor Ken Livingstone
stood by Jasper, saying: "I trust Lee with my life." A later Investigation would find that Lee Jasper 'had no case to answer'.
in 1958. His mother was born in the UK and is of African descent and his father is Jamaican. He moved to nearby Oldham
at the age of eight and remained there until he was twenty one. He married at sixteen and was divorced by twenty one. He married again at the age of twenty four and his second wife died of lupus in 1994. He was a single parent from 1981 until 1984 bringing up his two eldest daughters whilst studying at Manchester Polytechnic.
.
Over the next decade, Jasper became one of the UK's most prominent race and human rights activists, sitting on many different committees and groups. He founded a range of the UK's most prominent national black organisations such as the National Black Caucus, the 1990 Trust
and Operation Black Vote. He was also a founder member of Jubilee 2000
and Operation Trident
Independent Advisory Group. He was one of only three witnesses representing black organisations at the Stephen Lawrence
inquiry in his capacity as representative for the 1990 Trust. He was also a campaign group member of the Lawrence Campaign and personally organised the intervention of Nelson Mandela
in support of the Lawrence Campaign.
Jasper provided training for the Metropolitan Police in community issues. This role ceased in 1995 following the Brixton riots
as some police officers blamed Jasper for a hardline speech that inflamed the crowd.
His experience includes: Employed as Senior Policy Advisor to the Inner London Education Authority
(ILEA); Director of Development of the Mangrove Trust; Chair of Mangrove Community Association, Notting Hill
; Secretary, Notting Hill Carnival
; Press and Publicity Officer, Interval Housing Project, Rainer Foundation
. Jasper was the Director of the 1990 Trust
(1995–2000), a leading policy organisation on issues affecting African, Asian
, and Caribbean
communities in the United Kingdom
and Europe
. Jasper is an ex-board member of the Royal Commonwealth Society
(1997–1999). He is also the President of the National Black Students Alliance, as was also the Deputy Representative of the UK on the European Council
's European National Anti Racist Network(1995/6). He is a founder member of the Equanomics network.}
Jasper has chaired many committees and organisations including the National Black Alliance, National Black Caucus and the Lambeth
Police Consultative Group. He is the National Secretary of the National Assembly Against Racism
. He is a current member of the Black Jewish Forum and was one of the co-chairs of Communities on Line, a national organisation promoting internet usage for social and economic justice, and has been School Governor of St Andrew's School, Brixton
, and Kingsdale and Chestnut Grove Schools in South London. He was the driving force behind the radical black web site Black Information Linkhttp://www.blink.org.uk.
Lee Jasper was voted one of the top 100 Great Black Britons. He was also voted one of the top 10 in the New Nation newspapers Black Power List in 2007. He was one of only two people in the top 10 from the public sector.
He was the Chief Political Commentator for The Voice
newspaper during the 2010 election. In 2010 he was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award by the NUS Black Student Campaign in recognition of his contribution toward challenging racism in higher education and on behalf of black students in the UK. In July 2010 he was awarded a Pride of the Motherland Award ((Africa) at the 02 Arena by the National Consortium of African Student Societies.
He is currently co Chair of Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts ( BARAC) He is a leading member of the Coalition of Resistance anti cuts campaign. He is also the chair of the newly formed London Race & Criminal Justice Consortium and a political adviser to the 1990 Trust and a board member of Lambeth Police Consultative Group and Vice Chair of Brixton Splash. He is administrator for the "Justice 4 Smiley" campaign on Facebook.
In July 2011, Jasper controversially suggested there were similarities between the extremist Anders Behring Breivik
and Mayor of London
Boris Johnson
.
, Ken Livingstone
, Jasper earned £120,000 per year in his role as the Mayor's policy Director for Policing and Equalities. He was responsible for the development, enactment and promotion of equalities policies for the Greater London Authority
(GLA) and had corporate responsibility for the development and delivery of anti discriminatory policies aimed at ensuring equality in employment practices and service delivery. He was also directly responsible for advising the Mayor on policing issues. He secured level 5 for the GLA, the highest level available for the Local Government Equality Standard; only a handful of public sector organisations have achieved this distinction.
Due to his role in the Greater London Authority
, he played an important part at the European Social Forum
hosted by the GLA in London in 2004. This caused some controversy, as there was disruption at the anti-racist session of the Forum. His strong criticisms of the disruption were in turn condemned by a small number of hard left wing groups as stifling dissent.
He represented the Mayor's Office at the London's Gold Group Emergency and Disaster Committee that sat continuously throughout the 7 July 2005 London bombings
. He organised the Mayor's apology for Transatlantic Slavery in 2007 and led the successful campaign to have the 23rd of August recognised as Transatlantic Memorial Slavery Day in partnership with UNESCO
. He led with others the establishment of the Mayor's Commission on African and Asian Heritage in London. He oversaw the multi million pound funding and investment by the Mayor's office of the Bernie Grant Centre the Stephen Lawrence Centre, the Tabernacle Community Centre, th e Rich Mix Centre Brixton Base,among many others.
He chaired the Mayor's Notting Hill Carnival review producing the most in depth report ever produced on the issues associated with staging the event and outlining its full economic potential. He chaired the GLA Equalities and Budget Committee, also the GLA Procurement Diversity Strategy that produced a clear strategy in ensuring minority access to all city contracts. He pioneered the GLA Equalities effort resulting in the GLA being awarded Level 5 of the Local Government Equality Standard. He was responsible for London Black History Month season and led on the Mayors bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of transatlantic slavery programme that included an apology for slavery on behalf of London by the then Mayor Ken Livingstone. Jasper produced the first race, faith and disability planning guide for the London Plan the first for any city in the world. He led the Disability and Women's Capital, London schools and the Black Child annual conferences and events focussing on a broad range of equality issues. He led on the Rise Festival and oversaw the delivery of the disability arts festival Liberty and the London Asian Mela. He ensured the delivery of a high profile recruitment strategy for the Metropolitan Police Service that saw for the first time a 50% increase in black and ethnic minority officers. He led for the Mayors Office on the creation of safer neighbourhood policing teams. He also led the campaign to return the confiscated assets of criminals back to the communities that suffered their crimes resulting in millions being reinvested in London high crime communities. He was a lead member of the project team that delivered the successful Safer Neighbourhood Programme.
In March 2008 it was reported that Police investigating public funds allegations involving associates of Jasper had arrested Joel O'Loughlin, said to be a friend of Jasper's, whose company, Diversity International (DI), went into liquidation
after being paid nearly £350,000 by the London Development Agency
(LDA). It was alleged that the tender rules had been waived when DI was paid £346,000 to run a London website .
On the same day another LDA-funded group linked to Jasper, Ethnic Mutual, was shut down by the Financial Services Authority. EM had received over £1 million from the LDA and the government, and it was discovered that £18,000 had been diverted from it to a company of which Jasper is a director.
The police launched an investigation after Jasper voluntarily referred these and other press allegations to the police in a bid to clear his name. Arrests were made in response to the pressure brought to bear by the London Conservatives and the Evening Standard
. Eleven individuals, all of whom were black, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police and after a two year and eight months investigation all of them were subsequently released without charge.
Incoming Mayor of London
Boris Johnson
also launched an extensive Forensic Audit Panel investigation to examine in detail all aspects of Lee Jasper's decisions and actions whilst in office. That committee reported in July 2008 that Lee Jasper had acted at all times within his remit as a Mayoral adviser. Seeking to justify the report they did express concern about two members of his staff who were responsible for the Carnival Showcase. However again these matters were referred to the police for investigation in July 2008 and in December 2008 the police concluded again that there were no charges to answer.
In July 2009 all of the investigations concluded that Lee Jasper and all those included in the allegations made by Evening standard, had no case to answer.
The most recent report, which was produced after a forensic 18 month independent investigation by the law firm DLA Piper
and commissioned by the London Development Agency examined all the fraud and corruption allegations made by the London Evening Standard. The report published in June 2009 concluded that Lee Jasper had not influenced the funding decisions of the LDA and that there was no evidence of fraud or corruption. However, according to a BBC report of the investigation, although Mr Haworth-Maden said he found no evidence of fraud or corruption, he called for a number of administrative improvements at the GLA. 'His report found that Mr Jasper failed to record declared interests to the "standards expected". He also found that Mr Jasper's role in approving funding was "inappropriate given his interests" in a number of cases.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Black activist and former Senior Policy Advisor on Equalities to the Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
. He resigned on 4 March 2008 following publication by the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
of personal emails that were illegally acquired.
He was the subject of extensive inquiries conducted between December 2007 and June 2009 in relation to the sum of £510,000 given by the London Development Agency
London Development Agency
The London Development Agency is the Regional Development Agency for Greater London, England. It is a functional body of the Greater London Authority...
to south London's Brixton Base project. At the time London Mayor Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
stood by Jasper, saying: "I trust Lee with my life." A later Investigation would find that Lee Jasper 'had no case to answer'.
Personal background
Lee Jasper was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in 1958. His mother was born in the UK and is of African descent and his father is Jamaican. He moved to nearby Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
at the age of eight and remained there until he was twenty one. He married at sixteen and was divorced by twenty one. He married again at the age of twenty four and his second wife died of lupus in 1994. He was a single parent from 1981 until 1984 bringing up his two eldest daughters whilst studying at Manchester Polytechnic.
Career
Jasper left school without qualifications and briefly ran a market stall selling second hand clothes. In his 20's as a mature student, he gained a degree in social sciences and moved to London, where he worked at the Mangrove Community Association and became involved in the politics of the Notting Hill CarnivalNotting Hill Carnival
The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1964 has taken place on the streets of Notting Hill, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , London, UK each August, over two days...
.
Over the next decade, Jasper became one of the UK's most prominent race and human rights activists, sitting on many different committees and groups. He founded a range of the UK's most prominent national black organisations such as the National Black Caucus, the 1990 Trust
The 1990 Trust
The 1990 Trust is the first UK national Black organisation set up to protect and pioneer the interest of Britain’s Black Communities. Their approach is to engage in policy development and to articulate the needs of Black communities from a Black perspective....
and Operation Black Vote. He was also a founder member of Jubilee 2000
Jubilee 2000
Jubilee 2000 was an international coalition movement in over 40 countries that called for cancellation of third world debt by the year 2000. This movement coincided with the Great Jubilee, the celebration of the year 2000 in the Catholic Church...
and Operation Trident
Operation Trident
Operation Trident or Trident, is a Metropolitan Police Service unit set up to investigate and inform people about black gun crime , with special attention being placed on shootings relating to the illegal sale of drugs. The initiative was set up in March 1998 by black people following a series of...
Independent Advisory Group. He was one of only three witnesses representing black organisations at the Stephen Lawrence
Stephen Lawrence
Stephen Lawrence was a black British teenager from Eltham, southeast London, who was stabbed to death while waiting for a bus on the evening of 22 April 1993....
inquiry in his capacity as representative for the 1990 Trust. He was also a campaign group member of the Lawrence Campaign and personally organised the intervention of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
in support of the Lawrence Campaign.
Jasper provided training for the Metropolitan Police in community issues. This role ceased in 1995 following the Brixton riots
Brixton Riots
Brixton riots may refer to:* 1981 Brixton riot – 11 April 1981* 1985 Brixton riot – 28 September 1985* 1995 Brixton riot – 13 December 1995* 2011 Brixton riot – 7 August 2011; see 2011 London riots...
as some police officers blamed Jasper for a hardline speech that inflamed the crowd.
His experience includes: Employed as Senior Policy Advisor to the Inner London Education Authority
Inner London Education Authority
The Inner London Education Authority was the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990.-History:...
(ILEA); Director of Development of the Mangrove Trust; Chair of Mangrove Community Association, Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
; Secretary, Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival
The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1964 has taken place on the streets of Notting Hill, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , London, UK each August, over two days...
; Press and Publicity Officer, Interval Housing Project, Rainer Foundation
Rainer Foundation
The Rainer Foundation, currently named Catch22, was a charitable organization originally formed as the London Police Court Mission as a result of a 5 shilling gift made by Fredrick Rainer in 1876 to Church of England Temperance Society part of the Temperance movement...
. Jasper was the Director of the 1990 Trust
The 1990 Trust
The 1990 Trust is the first UK national Black organisation set up to protect and pioneer the interest of Britain’s Black Communities. Their approach is to engage in policy development and to articulate the needs of Black communities from a Black perspective....
(1995–2000), a leading policy organisation on issues affecting African, Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
, and Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
communities in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Jasper is an ex-board member of the Royal Commonwealth Society
Royal Commonwealth Society
The Royal Commonwealth Society is an international educational charity and a private members' club. Its mission is to support and promote the modern Commonwealth, its culture and core values...
(1997–1999). He is also the President of the National Black Students Alliance, as was also the Deputy Representative of the UK on the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
's European National Anti Racist Network(1995/6). He is a founder member of the Equanomics network.}
Jasper has chaired many committees and organisations including the National Black Alliance, National Black Caucus and the Lambeth
London Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...
Police Consultative Group. He is the National Secretary of the National Assembly Against Racism
National Assembly Against Racism
The National Assembly Against Racism is or was a British anti-racist and anti-fascist group.-External links:...
. He is a current member of the Black Jewish Forum and was one of the co-chairs of Communities on Line, a national organisation promoting internet usage for social and economic justice, and has been School Governor of St Andrew's School, Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, and Kingsdale and Chestnut Grove Schools in South London. He was the driving force behind the radical black web site Black Information Linkhttp://www.blink.org.uk.
Lee Jasper was voted one of the top 100 Great Black Britons. He was also voted one of the top 10 in the New Nation newspapers Black Power List in 2007. He was one of only two people in the top 10 from the public sector.
He was the Chief Political Commentator for The Voice
The Voice (newspaper)
The Voice is a British national weekly tabloid newspaper owned by the Jamaican publisher, GV Media Group, aimed at the British Afro-Caribbean community. The paper is based in the London Docklands and is published every Monday.-History:...
newspaper during the 2010 election. In 2010 he was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award by the NUS Black Student Campaign in recognition of his contribution toward challenging racism in higher education and on behalf of black students in the UK. In July 2010 he was awarded a Pride of the Motherland Award ((Africa) at the 02 Arena by the National Consortium of African Student Societies.
He is currently co Chair of Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts ( BARAC) He is a leading member of the Coalition of Resistance anti cuts campaign. He is also the chair of the newly formed London Race & Criminal Justice Consortium and a political adviser to the 1990 Trust and a board member of Lambeth Police Consultative Group and Vice Chair of Brixton Splash. He is administrator for the "Justice 4 Smiley" campaign on Facebook.
In July 2011, Jasper controversially suggested there were similarities between the extremist Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik is a Norwegian terrorist, paranoid schizophrenic and the confessed perpetrator of the Norway attacks on 22 July 2011: the bombing of government buildings in Oslo that resulted in eight deaths, and the mass shooting at a camp of the Workers' Youth League of the Labour Party...
and Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
.
Greater London Authority
As advisor to the Mayor of LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
, Jasper earned £120,000 per year in his role as the Mayor's policy Director for Policing and Equalities. He was responsible for the development, enactment and promotion of equalities policies for the Greater London Authority
Greater London Authority
The Greater London Authority is the top-tier administrative body for Greater London, England. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currently Boris Johnson, and an elected 25-member London Assembly with scrutiny powers...
(GLA) and had corporate responsibility for the development and delivery of anti discriminatory policies aimed at ensuring equality in employment practices and service delivery. He was also directly responsible for advising the Mayor on policing issues. He secured level 5 for the GLA, the highest level available for the Local Government Equality Standard; only a handful of public sector organisations have achieved this distinction.
Due to his role in the Greater London Authority
Greater London Authority
The Greater London Authority is the top-tier administrative body for Greater London, England. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currently Boris Johnson, and an elected 25-member London Assembly with scrutiny powers...
, he played an important part at the European Social Forum
European Social Forum
The European Social Forum is a recurring conference held by members of the alter-globalization movement . In the first few years after it started in 2002 the conference was held every year, but later it became biannual due to difficulties with finding host countries...
hosted by the GLA in London in 2004. This caused some controversy, as there was disruption at the anti-racist session of the Forum. His strong criticisms of the disruption were in turn condemned by a small number of hard left wing groups as stifling dissent.
He represented the Mayor's Office at the London's Gold Group Emergency and Disaster Committee that sat continuously throughout the 7 July 2005 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
. He organised the Mayor's apology for Transatlantic Slavery in 2007 and led the successful campaign to have the 23rd of August recognised as Transatlantic Memorial Slavery Day in partnership with UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. He led with others the establishment of the Mayor's Commission on African and Asian Heritage in London. He oversaw the multi million pound funding and investment by the Mayor's office of the Bernie Grant Centre the Stephen Lawrence Centre, the Tabernacle Community Centre, th e Rich Mix Centre Brixton Base,among many others.
He chaired the Mayor's Notting Hill Carnival review producing the most in depth report ever produced on the issues associated with staging the event and outlining its full economic potential. He chaired the GLA Equalities and Budget Committee, also the GLA Procurement Diversity Strategy that produced a clear strategy in ensuring minority access to all city contracts. He pioneered the GLA Equalities effort resulting in the GLA being awarded Level 5 of the Local Government Equality Standard. He was responsible for London Black History Month season and led on the Mayors bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of transatlantic slavery programme that included an apology for slavery on behalf of London by the then Mayor Ken Livingstone. Jasper produced the first race, faith and disability planning guide for the London Plan the first for any city in the world. He led the Disability and Women's Capital, London schools and the Black Child annual conferences and events focussing on a broad range of equality issues. He led on the Rise Festival and oversaw the delivery of the disability arts festival Liberty and the London Asian Mela. He ensured the delivery of a high profile recruitment strategy for the Metropolitan Police Service that saw for the first time a 50% increase in black and ethnic minority officers. He led for the Mayors Office on the creation of safer neighbourhood policing teams. He also led the campaign to return the confiscated assets of criminals back to the communities that suffered their crimes resulting in millions being reinvested in London high crime communities. He was a lead member of the project team that delivered the successful Safer Neighbourhood Programme.
Funding controversy
(NPOVD Disputed -July 2009)In March 2008 it was reported that Police investigating public funds allegations involving associates of Jasper had arrested Joel O'Loughlin, said to be a friend of Jasper's, whose company, Diversity International (DI), went into liquidation
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
after being paid nearly £350,000 by the London Development Agency
London Development Agency
The London Development Agency is the Regional Development Agency for Greater London, England. It is a functional body of the Greater London Authority...
(LDA). It was alleged that the tender rules had been waived when DI was paid £346,000 to run a London website .
On the same day another LDA-funded group linked to Jasper, Ethnic Mutual, was shut down by the Financial Services Authority. EM had received over £1 million from the LDA and the government, and it was discovered that £18,000 had been diverted from it to a company of which Jasper is a director.
The police launched an investigation after Jasper voluntarily referred these and other press allegations to the police in a bid to clear his name. Arrests were made in response to the pressure brought to bear by the London Conservatives and the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
. Eleven individuals, all of whom were black, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police and after a two year and eight months investigation all of them were subsequently released without charge.
Incoming Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
also launched an extensive Forensic Audit Panel investigation to examine in detail all aspects of Lee Jasper's decisions and actions whilst in office. That committee reported in July 2008 that Lee Jasper had acted at all times within his remit as a Mayoral adviser. Seeking to justify the report they did express concern about two members of his staff who were responsible for the Carnival Showcase. However again these matters were referred to the police for investigation in July 2008 and in December 2008 the police concluded again that there were no charges to answer.
In July 2009 all of the investigations concluded that Lee Jasper and all those included in the allegations made by Evening standard, had no case to answer.
The most recent report, which was produced after a forensic 18 month independent investigation by the law firm DLA Piper
DLA Piper
DLA Piper is a global law firm with 76 offices across 30 countries and more than 4,200 lawyers. As of May 2011, it was the largest law firm in the world by number of attorneys. The firm's global revenues were $1.92 billion in 2009-2010. The firm is composed of two partnerships, DLA Piper...
and commissioned by the London Development Agency examined all the fraud and corruption allegations made by the London Evening Standard. The report published in June 2009 concluded that Lee Jasper had not influenced the funding decisions of the LDA and that there was no evidence of fraud or corruption. However, according to a BBC report of the investigation, although Mr Haworth-Maden said he found no evidence of fraud or corruption, he called for a number of administrative improvements at the GLA. 'His report found that Mr Jasper failed to record declared interests to the "standards expected". He also found that Mr Jasper's role in approving funding was "inappropriate given his interests" in a number of cases.