• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

Do you accept that the theatres in the West End are a key part of London's economy and bring substantial numbers of people from all over the world into London?

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

One of the key concerns is that a substantial number of the theatres are in a position whereby they are extremely run-down in nature. They are listed buildings, which is another key concern that raises the cost of improving them and clearly they have not been properly maintained by the owners or the people involved previously. Will you look at that as a specific area that could justify some public investment?

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

Just adding on to what Bob Blackman is saying, because he is missing a key aspect of this, can you assure me that if any theatre owner comes to you looking to put a case for market intervention, that you will refer them to me? What I could do is direct them to other theatres that have dealt with refurbishment, have a relationship going with their patrons and their users and have put a local, individual levy on their tickets of something like £1 and over a period of time have raised a sufficient amount of money to refurbish their...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

They will be pretty anti-climactic if Crossrail is late or any of these other things are late, will they not?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

Are you satisfied with the arrangements for the consultation and overall strategy control of the Gateway?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, when they looked at this, also seemed to think that the thing is a shambles but it is going to take a very long time, I guess, for these structural changes to take place. I think that what people in London want to see is that this is going to be an attractive place to live. The numerous bodies who are connected with delivering the Thames Gateway do not seem to be making a great deal of progress on making this a desirable place to live and indeed the evidence that we have...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

You will be aware that it is suggested that Judith Armitt felt herself undermined by ministers. In particular that Yvette Cooper ripped up the original draft of the Gateway Plan. Were you or your officers consulted by the Government on this fairly dramatic change to the plan, as one of the parties?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

You have told us that the great catalyst which has transformed this from just 40,000 homes to 100,000 homes is Crossrail. However, you are proposing that the 100,000 homes should be built by 2016. The current completion date for Crossrail is 2017. That is on the assumption it is actually built on time. How do you square those two dates?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

Well, indeed. You are really a sort of Old Moore as far as that is concerned. One of the important infrastructure projects that you have fancied having there has been the new bridge, the Thames Gateway Bridge. What are the prospects for that?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 12 December 2007

The other bit that has been raised by Sir Stuart Lipton, [Former Chairman, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment] with whom I think you have had reasonable relations with in the past, is the concern about the infrastructure, going back to Tony's [Arbour] point, that the plans as currently drafted will create cheap and isolated estates. Now that is not what you want or what we want. What guarantee have you managed to get from Government that we will avoid falling into that pit, which is what has happened in the past?