• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

This is a question for the Chairman. I hope, Mr Chairman, you will not be taking any lessons on budgeting from the former Leader of Harrow Council, Mr Shah when, as I understand it, the budgets in Harrow got into some serious disarray in the period of 2005/06 and so, surely you need some wiser counsel.

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

This is a question for the Commissioner. I do not know if you are aware of this, Commissioner, but on 25 November a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, one Lynne Featherstone, made a 999 call to the Fire Brigade, in which she said there was a terrible noise coming from the boilers in her basement, it sounded a bit like a pneumatic drill but worse. She thought something was going to blow up. The Fire Brigade turned up, punctually, rapidly as it usually does in matters of great emergencies and they discovered that it was an airlock in the central...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

Can I just begin by declaring hospitality? I attended the awards lunch at Lords [LFEPA staff achievement awards] and I enjoyed it and I sat next to the Counter-Terrorism Joint Liaison team between the Metropolitan Police Service and the Fire Brigade, who won an award, deservedly, for their work at Operation Tiger Tiger. However, subsequently one of those posts was proposed for cuts, within this package of cuts which our colleague has been proposing. I will have to say I would much rather have kept the post than have the lunch - nice lunch that it was. Can I just...

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

If I heard right, you, Chair, Mr Coleman, you said that that callout would have cost over £200?

• Question by: Brian Coleman
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

Whilst there is great rejoicing in my constituency over the TOCU PCSOs, some areas of my constituency, I am thinking for example of the Kentish Town ward, an area of significant crime, there are currently no PCSOs at all, for all sorts of reasons to do with vacancies, sickness and everything else. I suspect this is not the only ward in London in this position. Have we got a problem with PCSO recruitment, or is this a problem reserved for the Camden Town ward of Camden?

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

Richard Tracey (AM): Can I say that the indications to me from my constituents is that they are absolutely overjoyed by the Safer Transport Teams and the effectiveness that they are having, and well done to the Metropolitan Police Service for providing them. My question is, to what extent are the Safer Transport Teams able to work very closely with the British Transport Police and also to respond to the live CCTV (closed-circuit television) coverage of some of the buses, particularly? The other thing is can you explain to me how many of the teams are equipped with the small...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

Some police officers within the service are definitely in danger of losing the roles that they do now. They are members of the Metropolitan Police Trafficking Unit whose funding has been stopped by the Home Office; some £2.3 million. We have a motion on the agenda later today asking for support for that unit and I believe it will get cross-party support. Will you, Mr Mayor, make sure the money is available in the budget to carry on the unit's good work? It is £2.3 million, which is not a great amount when you consider the overall budget of the...

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 19 November 2008

Seb, it appears Jacques Rogge [IOC President] has changed his position on the Olympic Stadium. Does that put you in a difficult position?

• Question by: Caroline Pidgeon
• Meeting date: 19 November 2008

You have made it very clear that when the Games are on you are responsible for the security within venue, you said, so within, for example, the Park. Given that there have been huge numbers of break-ins over the years into train and Tube depots, how are you going to ensure that public transport does not pose a security threat, particularly when you have got lines bisecting the Park, going around the Park and, I think, possibly even under the Park?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 19 November 2008

How confident are you in the competence of the Home Office to carry through all the security procedures that are going to be required with the many tens of thousands of volunteers that you are going to be using? I am referring particularly to Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks. Currently when police officers are being recruited, teachers are being recruited, social workers in Haringey are being recruited, it takes many months to go through all of this process and that is just normal everyday work. So, do you actually think the Home Office are up to it?