• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

Thank you, Mr Mayor. In fact, the London Chamber of Commerce estimates it at between £10-£20 billion in their recent report. Even if we take the lower figure of £10 billion, which is close to what you just mentioned there, and if we take it that there are 3 million households in London, that works out an average of over £3,000 per household of what London contributes over and above what it gets back. That is a huge figure by any standards. Yet, here in London, as you are very well aware, we have considerable unemployment. We have the five...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

Can I just ask one thing, Mayor. One of the things that many of the organisations ' London Chamber of Commerce ' a lot of the businesses ' London Dungeon are saying is, `Can we waive the Congestion Charge until after the next school half-term holiday' to encourage those very visitors you have talked about from the southeast, who will not come in? They do not seem to want to come into London.

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

Thank you, Mayor, for that. Taking it from the point of view of business, you talk about the extra money back, but the problem is that business and individuals are paying more and more in taxes in London. One of the difficulties that we have, in just pure practical terms, if you look at the London Chamber of Commerce recent reports and its updated report ' and I will make sure you get a copy of that ' and also what the British Retail Consortium said the day before yesterday, is that London has been hit, unlike any other region...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

Given that affordable housing is a key component of your vision for the Thames Gateway, what about affordable insurance? Is that being factored into the equation, given the warnings we are getting from the insurance industry about the cost of insuring individual homes? Is that affordable?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

I am sure the whole Assembly joins you in sharing your comments on the people of New Orleans. In terms of the Thames Gateway, there are 96,000 new homes planned for the greater London part of the Thames Gateway. Much of that, as you say, is in areas that are highly protected by existing flood defences. However, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) estimate that over 5,000 of the 96,000 new homes will be in areas that are at significant risk from flooding. Do these need to be looked at again?

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

Mike Tuffrey (AM): I have advocated looking at building homes on stilts, which the Dutch do and the Bangladeshis do. Even if people do not want to do that, simply, if there is going to be a house with a garage, why not put the garage underneath and the house on top. Then, the worst that happens is the car is ruined and not all the possessions in the house. Darren (Johnson) is smiling now, because he does not want cars at all. Darren Johnson (AM): They still need an electricity supply and a water supply, though. You still need...

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

Can I just ask for a little bit more imaginative thinking here? It is not just a question of choosing between, `If there is a risk, let us not build,' on the one hand, and on the other hand, `If there is a risk, let us build more and more defences, higher and higher defences.' There is an additional option, which is to build in a way that allows the water to come in and be managed safely. That happens all around the world. Indeed, the argument is that New Orleans went wrong because they built defences which then failed...

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

Murad Qureshi (AM): There are a few lessons we can learn from the Bangladeshis with floods, and I am sure the Americans could learn them. For example, we do bury our dead straight away, and we do not have the anarchy that the Americans had. Saying that, I understand, Mayor, that you are going to be having a conference on climate change in the cities in early October. It just seems that this may be a theme to adopt, given the interest. I do not know if Nicky (Gavron, Deputy Mayor) could also advise us as to whether that is...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

You mentioned the 2100 Project, which is really important. However, that is not due for completion until 2008, and planning decisions and development proposals are already taking place. Do you not think we need a little bit of caution, particularly with regard to those in high-risk areas, until we have this plan completed?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 14 September 2005

Should we not at least avoid those high-risk areas that the ABI has pointed out? For a small percentage of the homes that are planned, should we at least not build on those high risk areas whilst we do not have adequate flood protection?