• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

I took this on as a challenge and in fact it is not Chipping Sodbury ' it is Barcelona. Do you not think there is something wrong with your validation system if people not only from outside London but outside the country are able to get these passes? It is a shambles, is it not?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

The headmaster who you so airily dismissed is the head of one of the most successful schools in my constituency, the London Borough of Bromley, and he wrote that letter in response to a complaint from a constituent. He took the trouble to go and monitor the behaviour of pupils from the school at the bus stop outside where the constituent lived. He agreed with her that there was a problem and said the constituent was very astute in pointing out that these problems have arisen in the wake of public transport being made freely available for all young people...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

You may make what judgement you like of his character but is the criticism he is making here a fair one?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

Finally, when we last discussed this we talked about people applying for tickets from outside London. You did say to me that you thought if I did a lot of work I might unearth someone from Chipping Sodbury who had wrongfully got a ticket.

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

I think the point I was making, apart from punitive approaches which I think are difficult and expensive, is that there must be more we can do just in a positive, educative way. Young people getting Oyster cards could also get a behaviour charter or an agreement to sign up to for their behaviour. There could be much more publicity on the buses about what is the correct way to behave. We do of course get a lot of foreign visitors in London who do not necessarily know what the norms or standards of behaviour are. What can be done...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

All right. The report that Peter Hendy produced for the panel also states that operational issues are being addressed with operators, education authorities and TfL partners. What are those operational issues?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

Do you not think the concern about truancy is worth addressing though? Will you take cards off people you catch travelling on the buses when they should be at school?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

The reason I made that request to you is that last time we discussed this you were talking about using the Police to make sure everyone stands in an orderly line when queuing for a bus so really it would not be too much to expect that you use this scheme to control truancy rather than encourage it.

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

Yes, that would be helpful. Do you accept that we shall never resolve this reliability problem on the Northern Line unless we face up to the need to reconstruct the narrow tunnels at Camden Town?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 16 November 2005

Therefore we know what the problem is; we know what the solution is. Why do we have to wait so long?