• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

You have noted in terms of bringing down the Council Tax to around 6%, that if additional grants and the tax take are not sufficient you would look in other areas. Which other areas will you look at first?

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

I am almost loath to follow someone who has such amazing 20/20 foresight. You said that this is the most generous settlement in a decade, which I feel sure we all welcome. You do not think that has anything to do with the forthcoming general election, do you?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

I am sure that people in other areas will not take up the offer of GLA-style institutions. I think one of the things which highlights that is something you agreed with me on a couple of months ago, that the people of London probably would not vote for an Assembly in the present environment because of its obvious powerlessness. Even in this situation we have very little power to do things which I think you might assume from outside - the media has commented to me their assumption that we would be able to make specific suggestions about the budget...

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

What is the reason you cannot put a value on all the free Travelcards you give out? I declare an interest as the GLA pays for mine.

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

Finally, and this is a sort of cross-over issue when we talk about policing, transport, and LFEPA, but there is a range of policies and programmes within your budgets in the core GLA, LDA and TfL which are about environmental protection and improvement. Could you say something about the sort of offer that will be made to Londoners over the coming year through this budget to address issues like air quality and environmental concerns, and to improve the quality of life in the round through the operation of the GLA family?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

There are two things in particular where I think the LDA is really falling down, and I would like to have a comment on them both. The first is the issue of the Green Grid, which is this idea of laying out a connected system of green space over the whole of London before any more development takes place because, if we do not do it now, we have lost the land. It is absolutely urgent this goes forth, and somehow I feel the LDA has not grasped that this is quite an urgent piece of work. The second question...

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

If you advertised though and spent the same money on advertising you would get more space. The amount it costs to print each page is more than it costs to get the money from the individual component parts, if you like, therefore it is almost a completely uneconomic way of doing it.

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

In your earlier comments about the powerlessness of the Assembly, you talked about the transfer of some powers, which effectively would be from the boroughs to the Assembly. The point is interesting because the LDA has a budget of £380 million odd, but although it is money coming into London this is an area where there is even less influence by the Assembly. We effectively have little power to influence the rest, but no power to influence this. Firstly, do you think that is a satisfactory position? Is it not better if you are talking about changing of powers to...

• Question by: Brian Coleman
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

Mr Pelling, would you like to give a statement as Chair of the Budget Committee?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 26 January 2005

Will you make a response therefore to Barking & Dagenham who have said that the precept should be restricted to well below 5%?