• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

How much last year?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

The residents of south west London think they get a very poor deal from the LDA " almost no investment at all. As part of the changes which are being made at the LDA, I wonder if you would be able to tell me how much the boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Kingston upon Thames currently receive from the LDA by way of investment or any other funds? Under the changes, how much is that sum going to increase?

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

Where would you find that out? It was the local authority reporting back on the consultation. Can people come directly to Tony Winterbottom if they are unhappy?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

£132,000? That is less than £1 per head of the residents of the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames. It does not seem like a very good deal. Do you think that is a good deal?

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

You were talking about recent changes, one of which was Victor (Anderson) going to check out, and set the criteria for and examine sustainability issues. I had a presentation from a group of residents' associations in Haringey about the Haringey Heartlands development, and they certainly do not feel it is sustainable or that it has any of the skills, jobs, transport infrastructure, things that it should have, and that they were never asked for their opinion in the statutory consultation and for the results. Is it Victor who can save them from this fate worse than death, or is it...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

Is that a priority for the LDA?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

Perhaps to address another part of your presentation, which links to this, you talked about the need for the LDA to have credibility with business, but are there not occasions when business has to have credibility with Londoners and the LDA needs to say that the employment, training and mentoring practices of the private sector in London are short-sighted, are disadvantaging London and, in the end, will disadvantage those businesses? I am being quite strident in pursuing that. Perhaps your Chair should answer that.

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

Can you point to an initiative where you have actually made a difference in that?

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

Can I just go back to the area of questioning that my colleague touched on about the LDA's support of London's black and minority ethnic communities? Firstly, would you agree with me that sometimes the LDA can be seen to be defensive about the support of this key community? I would like to say to you that there is absolutely no need to be defensive, because it is, if you like, linked to your answer to the last question. These are communities finding themselves in need, but at the same time, they have the skills and the city has the...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

If I could pick on one of those areas and make your life a little harder, then: graduate unemployment levels in minority ethnic communities. Much has been said about this and yet the levels of unemployment remain massively higher than in the white communities, for example. What examples of success can you give in that area, and to what extent is it a priority that you can address? Alternately, is it an issue which you, in the end, accept that you cannot make a difference on and that you should withdraw from?