• Question by: Gareth Bacon MP
• Meeting date: 21 January 2015

Gareth Bacon AM: Mr Mayor, we had a very long and protracted debate over the London Safety Plan 5 (LSP5) in which the proposal to close certain fire stations was mooted. During that debate, the Labour Group on the Fire Authority, led by Fiona Twycross, opposed the sale of any fire stations, as you have mentioned. They did it on the basis of claiming that London would be less safe if we did that. That was a respectable argument to put. It was not one that I agreed with and it was not one that the Commissioner agreed with and...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 21 January 2015

Darren Johnson AM: Thank you. Yes. You are still going to be Mayor for another year, I take it? Boris Johnson (Mayor of London): I am; perhaps longer. Darren Johnson AM: I would just find it helpful if you could spell out what your plans are as Mayor to keep lobbying on this issue of the borrowing cap.

• Question by: Andrew Boff
• Meeting date: 21 January 2015

Andrew Boff AM: When you find whoever it is in the Conservative Party who has been saying what John Biggs says, could you also make a point of opposing those people in the Labour Party who abhor voluntary effort and hate voluntary organisations?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 21 January 2015

John Biggs AM: I wanted to be helpful, as I always am, in helping to highlight to you an area which would improve your knowledge base, and that would be for you to visit a food bank. You have declined to do it so far. If I could ‑‑ Boris Johnson (Mayor of London): You heard in my answer to Fiona [Twycross AM] that I intend to get to our new shop as soon as I can. John Biggs AM: You are talking about a particular supermarket. What you will find if you visit a food bank is that it...

• Question by: Andrew Boff
• Meeting date: 17 December 2014

Andrew Boff AM: Sir Edward, survey after survey shows that most of Londoners would prefer to live in street-level homes rather than high-rise developments. With the 350,000 children being brought up in overcrowded conditions it is clear that one of the aims for any MDC should be to alleviate some of those problems and provide more family homes. Can you confirm that the objectives of the proposed MDC will have a commitment to building street-level family homes?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 17 December 2014

Jenny Jones AM: I have not been convinced by these arguments about keeping Wormwood Scrubs open space inside the MDC. The council that currently has it in their borough is against it. The Friends of the Open Space are against it. It looks like a mayoral land grab. It does not look like a coherent plan. Sir Edward Lister (Mayor's Chief of Staff): If I may, it is a coherent plan, but they do not agree with it. Jenny Jones AM: Do you not think you should be interested in localism: that decisions for local people for local land should...

• Question by: Gareth Bacon MP
• Meeting date: 17 December 2014

Gareth Bacon AM: Just a quick word on representation. A number of Members have picked up the issue of transparency and representation on the board. You have made the, not unreasonable, point that it is a management board, not a local authority committee. Each borough will have one elected member, according to the Mayor’s consultation document. Could you reassure the Assembly that the boroughs concerned - although the Mayor will appoint them officially - will be free to nominate whoever they choose?

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 17 December 2014

Richard Tracey AM: Thank you, Mr Chairman. Edward, can I first of all thank you for organising for the letter to Kit Malthouse [AM] about Wormwood Scrubs, which of course has been circulated to all of us. All of us on this side have received emails from many people who certainly were not constituents of ours but had some concerns, so I think it has helped very much to clarify, and I am grateful to Kit for writing to the Mayor about it. First of all though, I was going to say there is a lot of experience in this...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 17 December 2014

John Biggs AM: Unfortunately, most of my time has been taken by a Member making unscripted interventions, because we did plan our time for today. I will try to be very brief. I have two areas. One is about what we call ‘cliff edges’ and it relates to the experience of the LLDC, where the purpose of the Olympics and its legacy is to benefit a far wider area. In answer to Stephen Knight [AM] who said that MDC money can be spent outside this area providing it meets its object, of course that begs the question of what the...

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 17 December 2014

Jenette Arnold OBE (Deputy Chair): I have a couple of questions, one for Sir Eddie, and one for Victoria Hills. Sir Eddie, in your introduction you mentioned that the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) master plan was similar to the blueprint adopted by the LLDC. I know, as one of the three Assembly Members for the area covered by the LLDC, and was heavily involved in the consultation and now I keep a very strong watching brief on what is going on, that many aspects of the LLDC’s vision has changed. For instance, the LLDC plan started...