• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

Therefore the priority is for the Cross River Tram or for the South London Trams if there is a transfer of priority?

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

I am glad you brought up that item about housing because that is so important to our health. Can I link my question to that? Will you join me in congratulating the partners that have been working with the London Health Commission; Central YMCA, Groundwork London, London Sustainability Exchange, the University of East London, and Arts Council England. The Big Lottery bid that you have produced a press release about this morning will be lost of course because of the other news items. Will you join me in thanking them for their work, and we look forward to working with...

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

I am sure the right approach is an intelligent one, not simply to build more and more walls and then put people behind them. The insurance industry - who, obviously have an interest, but if they will not offer insurance, nobody is going to buy the houses or rent them - is saying that, with the £4 billion target for the flood defences that the Environment Agency is still, I think, working to ' although there is no evidence that we are going to have the necessary resources to meet that - the numbers of at-risk properties have risen from...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

However, you are burking the issue there. I think we all agree about the problems of sewage and the rest of it, but your entire housing programme is predicated on success in the Thames Gateway. If people are unable to get insurance and are unable to get mortgages then the houses that are going to be built, on the assumption that anybody is going to take the risk of building them, are not going to be occupied. How are you going to deal with that problem?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

Are you not being really rather complacent about the risk here, particularly with relation to insurance? Many of the houses that you are proposing to build in the Thames Gateway are going to require assistance from mortgage lenders. Mortgage lenders will not lend unless there is insurance in place. Of the 14 zones in the Thames Gateway, 13 of them are considered to be in a flood plain area where insurance companies are unwilling to offer insurance. Can you tell me whether or not you are proposing to go into the insurance business to underwrite this? Are we going to...

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

Since I last raised the issue with you we have had the very severe floods in Yorkshire and Humberside. We have also had the belated, but nonetheless welcome, recognition from central government that we need to do more on housing, particularly social housing. If we are to get more in, people instantly look at Thames Gateway to put more houses into there. You will be aware that the National Audit Office recently published a fairly constructively critical report in relation to Thames Gateway. One of the things they called for was the need for much stronger leadership from central government...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

I might want to pursue that somewhere else. You have talked about the boroughs matching funding. Are you thinking of matching with existing funding streams or are you hoping and expecting that boroughs will find additional funds to match what you are making available?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

Is it going to be capital funded or revenue funded, or could it be either?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

My point again, as you will well understand, is that many borough councils, probably all borough councils, are suffering budget restrictions year on year. Finding growth money is never easy. What I am trying to get to is whether you would supplement existing resources so that they are better used? I am certainly not suggesting you should substitute for something a borough is funding, but to supplement.

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

In that case thank you very much for sparing us nothing of substance! This sounds very welcome and I am sure it will be welcomed, but you have been talking about it on quite a number of occasions since April, and again as recently as last Sunday on The Politics Show you were referring to it. I speak from one borough but I am sure I could speak for all 32 who are very keen and interested to know about this apparent £20 million of funding that is on offer. Is there nothing at all of substance that you can...