• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

I am delighted to hear that because I know how strongly you feel that this must be the `most open and transparent government that the country has ever known', to quote you. Will you then extend that to the publication of the Register of Interests so that there can be clarity about conflicts of interest on the part of board members?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

I can see your point about the extra space and the increased travel time for people. However, one of the main things about this is that linking it absolutely to the extension into Kensington and Chelsea betrays the fact that it seems to be an imposition which needs palliatives to make it acceptable. Surely the issue of an earlier end to the Congestion Charge should stand alone, above all on its impact on low-paid workers in London's night-time economy?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

One of the things you also mentioned during the campaign was the possibility of reducing the charging period to end half an hour earlier. Are you still considering that?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

During the election I met several people who complained that they had paid for their Congestion Charge ticket, then through circumstances beyond their control had not driven into town, yet Capita had said they were not entitled to a refund. Will you look at the possibility of providing refunds either in terms of money or perhaps just giving them a free day they can use at some other time?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

Will the Mayor also undertake to commission research into the impact of the Congestion Charge on low-paid workers in London's night-time economy because I do not entirely share your satisfaction that it has not had an impact? There are many people in the night-time economy, women in particular, who have to drive at a certain time and then return home at 2am or 3am. It would at least be useful to know that some research would be done.

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

It was very interesting that your manifesto came so late on, but then I was not surprised to find most of Simon Hughes' (Liberal Democrat Party Mayoral candidate) good ideas in there in terms of Congestion Charging. However, the one you missed was actually a very important one for Londoners. There are 165,000 penalty notices a month, and I am sure there are not 165,000 people trying to avoid the charge because many just forget. Therefore, will you take up Simon's other idea of allowing people a further 26 hours until midnight the following day to pay the charge if...

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

But they would have thought they had a fair chance to pay, would they not?

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

I would like to follow on from the regular campaign that my colleague Richard Barnes (AM) has done on this issue. The opposition to this scheme is very vociferous. You made reference to polls, but polls can be driven by the question you ask. In the context of all the competing needs we have in terms of investment in public transport, surely this scheme should be dropped bearing in mind the strength of opposition? This scheme is different from other schemes because of its strong emphasis on the running of the tram on the road, particularly on the Uxbridge Road...

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

My next question is also about consultation. At the end of this month a public consultation period begins on the West London Tram project. Will it be made clear to the people of West London that the tram that has been proposed is 43 yards long, over 7 feet wide and can carry up to 320 passengers? It will be like a Tube train, two and half carriages long, running along the centre of the Uxbridge Road.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

My question is about this consultation. I would like to mention two points first. On 18 May, after consulting with TfL for two years, a meeting of 30 residents' associations representing many tens of thousands of people in West London unanimously agreed to oppose the West London Tram project. On 11 June, the Ealing Passenger Transport Users' Group (EPTUG) and other community groups decided publicly to oppose the West London Tram project. They said they had done this because TfL had operated a charade of a consultation that had ignored the views of the people. I put it to you...