• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Have you had regular meetings with the 2012 group to formulate your 12th Theme?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

I just wondered if people might more logically think we would go to a London alert website, rather than a Bexley alert or a Hammersmith alert.

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

I notice that the surrounding county councils, of course, are the responsible authority for civil defence and emergency planning. Do you think perhaps it is an advantage that they are able to plan at a county, as opposed to a borough, level? Is that something you should learn from London's point of view? Secondly, I also note that the very helpful plans, which you have detailed, Mr Wechsler, are made available to the public, both on, for example, Oxfordshire County Council's website and Surrey County Council's website, and that Surrey, indeed, has a dedicated SurreyAlert website. Do we propose to...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

If we were to, for whatever reason, lose a large amount of Thames Water supply, would they be called on to fill that gap, and would they have the capacity to be able to do that?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

I was just looking back at Mr Wechsler's answer to the question on water supplies. He talks about a utilities sub-committee for London that was looking at dealing with this problem. Does that committee include representation from suppliers other than Thames Water, because certainly those of us in outer London often have our supplies from other organisations? I live in Romford. I get my supply from Anglian Water.

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Is all the alternative supply through the mains, or are you looking at making mobile supplies available or bottled water available?

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

David Wechsler added:

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Thank you very much. One is still a little bit worried. I do not think I have had a proper answer, but my concerns are really about the legal responsibilities that local authorities ' the educational authorities ' may have. One presumes that in a critical incident, children may be removed to a separate, secure place from their parents. Now, this raises the question about legal and practical care to ensure that the children are well-cared for in the short- and medium-term. Now, the term 'in loco parentis' is, in fact, common law, and it does not assume the responsibility...

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

One of the issues is, obviously, what would happen in a chemical attack or other form of attack which involves pollution of the air or water. One of the concerns then is that widespread panic could take place, so what would be the position of and what plans are there to physically constrain people within specific areas where those areas have been subject to the chemical attack?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

I am glad to hear the balanced view on that. Obviously, we totally oppose them, but one of the main problems is that many people claim benefits for them ' in situations like this ' when other countries, when you ask them, on their own systems, they say, 'No, it does not help.' The core of my question really was, 'Is there any evidence that has ever been produced, any specific data or evidence that is currently being used in order to justify the introduction of compulsory identity cards with regard to situations like this ' civil contingencies?'