• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

I would certainly support what Val [Shawcross] is saying about making the Cross River Tram the number one new priority, but I would be shocked and horrified if you were to be talking about abandoning the West London Tram altogether. Are you still absolutely resolute that the tram is the only real solution for tackling gridlock and traffic congestion along the Uxbridge Road as you have said previously?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

So we have some prospect of real tram developments in south London?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

Earlier on you were talking about capacity to deliver projects and deliverability. I am quite struck by the fact that TfL has put together a good in-house tram development team. These people work to deliver trams and if our trams do not look like they are going to be realistic viable prospects, I worry that we are in danger of losing the expertise that has been collected into TfL. A lot of these people will only be able to work on two or three tram schemes in their career, so if London is not going live on light rail, then...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 18 July 2007

I know that as a strategic Mayor you get frustrated with parochial concerns being pressed. It does frustrate me that here we have a tram proposal with excellent cost benefit analysis, regeneration benefits, would take the pressure off the Northern Line, it would bring tram infrastructure into an area, and it is within the Congestion Charging Zone. We desperately want this. You have pointed out yourself we have cross-party enthusiasm for it south of the river, and yet we still find ourselves with this scheme at number two in the wish list of light rail schemes, against the West London...

• 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...