• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

You promised 50%.

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

Mr Mayor, we can sit here and lose everybody in the figures. I can tell you you are losing 202 officers in the reduction in management structures; you are losing another 323 through improvements to the criminal justice system, a net reduction of 525. We can baffle everybody with all of these figures. The reality is that your 1,000 that you were proclaiming first of all is being funded by government and by the London boroughs, not through you and, secondly, is now actually not going to be achieved because the Government is not supporting you in two thirds of...

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

And that is only what those 300 officers were for? I did try to get to the bottom of what they were for; I have asked you twice I think and you did not have that information.

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

Presumably if there was a bid for 300 security officers it was perceived that there would be a need for them and if you are only going to get 97, which is a possibility, can you assure us that the shortfall will not be made up from local police officers, ie that there will only be 97 extra used and not the 300 posts filled?

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

The difficulty is that every time this topic comes up you revert to form and you say, 'It's the boroughs; it's not me'. The fact is you are the Mayor of London. You surely should see your role not as beating the boroughs into submission and saying, 'You, you and you follow me' but your role ought to be to persuade and cajole. I have not seen any evidence at all of you working constructively with boroughs. I have not seen any carrots that you have suggested to boroughs. It is all been, 'You do as I say or else'...

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

I would find that almost impossible to believe that any borough would behave like that. I honestly suggest that you personally sit down and go and see the boroughs and talk to them.

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

What have you done to encourage them to change that view other than to say, 'I am going to name and shame' which obviously has not done any good at all? Have you met with them? Have you asked about their particular problems? Have you understood why they are not doing it? Do you seriously think people in those boroughs are going to say, 'We don't care about social rented homes'? Isn't it a question that they have each got individual problems that you as Mayor should be going down and discussing with them and trying to solve?

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

The fact remains, however, that you are doing your usual sleight of hand with figures. There is no question that 31,430 homes have been delivered against your target of 30,000; an increase of 180. Very good. There is equally no question that you promised to include in that target 15,000 homes that are affordable and you actually delivered 9,200 homes that are affordable. So that is a decrease of 5,800 homes. Within those figures you promised that 70% of the homes would be for social rent; a total of 10,500 and you have actually delivered just 4,400 for social rent...

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

I understand. What I am saying is that before we hear any more about it can we ask for a briefing so we know exactly what this is about before we go out and raise it? I have to say £1.4 million does not even buy a good cup of tea across London on a good day so we need to manage that.

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

Can I refer you to the London Cultural Consortium which is doing some work around this? I am sure that is a base a future Mayor can build on. Staying with this fund that you have talked about with the Arts Council there are two things. Can I ask you to issue a briefing as soon as possible to Members? I think one of the most unfortunate things that can happen is that we do not manage the expectations here. As I understand it this £1.4 million is a specific fund that you have started and so, in terms of...