• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Would you also agree that, rather than simply just expecting people to come to you for advice and information, we need to see more of what has been happening in Lewisham where council officers have been going directly to peoples' own homes on a door-to-door basis and offering that advice directly?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Thank you very much. You have told us lots about your good intentions and your principles and so on - and indeed about 90% of what you have said was about your intentions - but not what you have actually achieved. That really is rather like the expenditure that there has been on these programmes. Is it good value for money that, of the £2.7 million that has been spent on the Green Homes programme, £2.2 million of that has been spent on publicity and only £300,000 on actual insulation grant? Would you not say that the whole thing is...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Mr Watts, that is not actually true. In the Mayor's press release ' which I suppose in this case is Nicky's press release ' a 63% take-up was predicted, which is four million. Your figure bears no relationship to the press release and the fact that you only made available this tiny number of light bulbs suggests that there was never any truth in the matter at all.

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Given that the Assembly's Environment Committee investigation into the barriers that ordinary Londoners faced in terms of greening their homes showed that one of the biggest barriers that Londoners faced, even though they were enthusiastic about wanting to do something, was the lack of practical advice and information, does it not suggest that the comparatively low take-up we have seen so far suggests we need a more aggressive marketing campaign that reaches Londoners rather than less emphasis on marketing and getting the message out?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Of the 30,000 a year that you are predicting?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

One final thing on this; I believe the whole thing is completely ludicrous. This refers to DIY Planet Repairs. Whenever we switch on any of the computers in this building a big thing comes up with an exclamation mark saying `DIY Planet Repairs'; utterly meaningless. I can well understand why there is an exclamation mark there; this has cost the Council Tax payers of London more than £1.25 million! Can you point to any `DIY Planet Repair' which the Mayor and this campaign have actually achieved?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Do you know, I am flabbergasted by this, Deputy Mayor. You have just told us that these low-energy bulbs are in fact a transitional thing, because LED bulbs are going to come in which are going to be efficient, but at the same time your publicity has told us that these light bulbs are going to have a very long life. Clearly it is quite pointless that they should have a long life if something more permanent is going to come along. It is a bit like somebody trying to sell me a Betamax video recorder! The whole thing is...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Do you not find that they are absolutely grotesque to look at? I am a great one for doing what can be done but I also believe that the best way to encourage people to do the right thing is to make it possible for them to do the right thing. Is it not going to be absolutely vital that we get these light bulbs designed in a way that is acceptable to people because the light is appalling and they look absolutely grotesque?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

You think that this will be replicated with India?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

You are saying that each job would have an economic value of £115,400. That is almost what you are paid if I might put it that way. That is a phenomenal figure considering that the average wage is round about £35,000, which is a great deal less than that. Are you seriously saying that these are jobs in the private sector that add an economic value according to that figure?