• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 07 December 2005

I am asking what they are.

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 07 December 2005

You will let us know when you do?

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 07 December 2005

There is a natural limit, but you are avoiding my answer because there will be mature people who are already working in the building industry in the UK who are skilled dumper drivers, skilled crane drivers, skilled cement or concrete pumpers, skilled scaffolders, etc. They will be taking a large chunk of the jobs because they are already within the industry and they have the skills and the abilities that the construction industry needs. If you look around us here, speed is of the essence when you are building. How many jobs can you realistically think are available for the...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 23 February 2005

Are you pleased with the result in Edinburgh and will you be allowing Londoners a referendum on your western extension?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 23 February 2005

From your observations about the MPA which I think are unfair to the individuals who serve on those boards, I take it that you will be endorsing Michael Howard's (leader of the Conservative Party) policy that the Mayor of London should be the Police Authority and that the Assembly should scrutinise him?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 23 February 2005

I want to bring up this question of the Congestion Charge again. When Bob Kiley was here I put it to him that along with the other changes in the pipeline, would it not be a good idea to allow an extra day for people to pay the C-Charge. He said it was reasonable. When you appeared before the Transport Committee, you said you were open to persuasion on this matter. I would like to try to persuade you. If people are allowed to have an extra day to pay, if they do not, they are going to get a...

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 23 February 2005

I would be much happier doing that. I believe he would be accountable, as would TfL. Mr Mayor, you should share the postbag that Members receive from their own constituents where the constituents have endeavoured to obtain answers to letters from TfL which have never come, where they have attended constant public meetings and never had an influence over the outcome. Mr Mayor, you live in a netherworld all of your own.

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 23 February 2005

The reality is, Mr Mayor, that you chair and Bob Kiley leads one of the most reviled organisations across London. It is reviled because it absolutely ignores the people it serves. One can see that in the consultation of the West London Tram, where the local residents influenced the outcome not one jot; where the consultation on the extension on the Congestion Charge which I believe you dismissed as, `Consultation not a referendum.' This morning I believe you promised John Biggs that in Newham you will look at changes to the Crossrail project because of the travellers' site, and you...

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 23 February 2005

The question I would like to ask regarding Mr Kiley is the rather surprising announcement you made at the Budget Committee in December that the arrangement you have with Mr Kiley is that he has a veto over the appointments to the TfL board. Essentially, you have devolved your responsibility under the Act to Mr Kiley. Is that really good governance and does that provide good accountability of Mr Kiley, when if a member of the TfL board would choose to criticise his performance, Mr Kiley could say, `I can strike you out at a moment by using my veto...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 23 February 2005

The Edinburgh result is quite a set back not just for Edinburgh but also for the roll-out of congestion charging in other cities. Whom do you blame most for this cock-up? Is it the lily-livered Labour councillors going for a silly referendum in the first place, or is it the Liberal Democrats joining the Tories and the motoring lobby, even though they say that they support congestion charging but then jump on the anti-congestion charge bandwagon?