• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

I have the Department of Transport's road speeds in front of me. They are significantly lower now than they were ten years ago. Is it not the truth that your traffic measures, such as adding bus lanes wherever you can, and rephasing traffic lights quite consistently across London - you would no doubt tell me to benefit pedestrians - has slowed up traffic? While it may be true that fewer cars are coming into London there is as much congestion as there ever was which is why we are seeing gridlock back again. You are taking with one hand and...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

No, because it probably is not!

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

But most people have to pay the Charge, businesses have to pay the Charge. You cannot seriously be saying that somebody who is making a delivery from Potters Bar or Hertford or somewhere and coming into London and adding it to a bill that they are doing, and then going back out, that that is ripping people off.

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

Thank you, Commissioner. Firstly, on the business of pest control, the companies who told us this made quite clear that there are legal obligations that oblige them to do this very regularly. My main issue is that TfL was quoted on the story on the Congestion Charge on Parcelforce saying: `They had no record of any business asking customers to foot the bill'. We just took a random number of medium to large sized companies; CBRE, a major property company in London, Vinopolis. Head of Operations at Vinopolis went through all of her bills and stated, quite clearly: `I have...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

Fine. I get one of my team to ring 30 companies and 10 of them give specifics. That is the key, they are being charged. When we had a recent scrutiny of the film industry on the Economic Development Committee, all of those who are not financially dependant upon either the GLA money or Government said: `It is a major issue. The Congestion Charge is a barrier to us because of the number of vehicles'. There is an attempt to play it down, I think that is the thing that I am saying. Can you not do some research, include...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

Do you ask this question though; are your delivery companies and so on charging you?

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

I am pointing out that the CBI made it quite clear that they were not impressed that there was no extra delivery time. It is not me saying it, Mr Hendy, that is what the CBI gave as evidence to the Transport Committee. Let me go on to talk about additional costs on businesses. The GLA's own Economic Report did say that if any businesses had been hurt, it was the small retailer inside the Congestion Charge Zone. If you look at the figures you will see that 87% of all retailers are small retailers and therefore it would be...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

I am surprised you suggested you were going to take Parcelforce to task because they had benefited from doing extra deliveries. You will recall the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), when Mary Reilly came to give evidence as the London representative of the CBI, said they had withdrawn their support from the Congestion Charge precisely because they were not getting an extra delivery time in because the congestion had not been sufficiently reduced - many would argue it is as bad as it always was - and therefore there was no extra delivery time that would have made it beneficial...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

You could ask that question as well, but they have to pay it

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 06 December 2006

You just said you have cut the volume of traffic.