Although considered to be a ‘flagship’ policy, the [congestion charge] scheme is only one element of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy. The Transport Strategy contains numerous other policies and proposals that have a greater or lesser relationship with congestion charging. In turn, the Mayor’s other Strategies cross-refer to congestion charging, in line with the provision in the 1999 Greater London Authority Act that requires Mayoral Strategies to be mutually consistent. This means that congestion charging was implemented in a very much wider context of transport, environmental and other related initiatives, particularly parallel and wider improvements to the provision of public transport.

  Section 41 sets out the strategies to which the general duties of the Mayor apply, the duty of the Mayor to review and revise the strategies, and the matters to which the Mayor must have regard in preparing, revising or implementing those strategies. In preparing, reviewing or amending the strategies, the Mayor shall have regard to the need to ensure that each of the strategies is consistent with national policy and with such international obligations as the Secretary of State may notify to the Mayor, and with the other strategies. The Mayor shall also have regard to the principal purposes of the Authority and the effect the proposed strategy or revision would have on the health of people in London and the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom. The Mayor shall also have regard to the resources available to implement each strategy, the desirability of promoting the improvement of the health of Londoners and the desirability of promoting and encouraging the use of the River Thames safely - in particular for passenger transport and freight transportation. The Mayor must set such targets as he or she considers appropriate for implementing each of the strategies. In doing so the Mayor shall have regard to national targets, objectives and performance indicators, and shall seek to secure that the targets set are not less demanding than these.

 Under section 41(4) of the GLA Act 1999 the Mayor is required to have regard to the effect his proposed strategies will have on the health of persons in Greater London and on the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom. Section 41(7) requires that he include such policies and proposals relating to the content of the strategy he considers best meets those aims. Section 41 makes similar provision in respect to climate change. It amends section 41(4) of the 1999 Act to require the Mayor to have regard to climate change and the consequences of climate change when preparing his strategies. The section also amends section 41(7) to require the Mayor to include such policies and proposals in his strategies he considers best calculated to contribute towards the mitigation of, or adaptation to, climate change, in the United Kingdom.