• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

• Question by: Diana Johnson
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

Diana Johnson (AM): I am interested to hear about partnership working. I know that one of the Mayoral candidates, Steve Norris, is talking about the Met becoming a youth work agency. I wonder what your views are on that because it seems to me that may not actually be the best way forward to engage with young people.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

Who should he contact?

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

Angie Bray (AM): Recently I visited a small out-of-hours, non-contact boxing class organised by a former Olympic boxer. It struck me that what he was doing was totally wonderful. He had a class full of enthusiastic girls and boys of all ages. The great thing was that because he was sufficiently charismatic they were all willing and wanted to go to his class. He was then able to keep an eye on other issues like problems with learning, diet and so on. It struck me that it did not really cost anything. He just needed a little bit of equipment...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

Graham Tope (AM): I did want to concentrate today on young people as victims of crime. Every London borough has amongst its top three priorities dealing with anti-social behaviour and whilst that is a priority in every borough it does tend to reinforce the stereotype, the image of young people as the perpetrators and as the problem and does not adequately recognise that more often they are the victims. In terms of talking and working with young people, one of the objectives in the MPS youth strategy is to provide an environment for young people who are victims or witnesses...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

Graham Tope (AM): I do not think any of us would want to suggest that this was an issue solely for the Met to deal with; I took that as a given. Toby mentioned earlier the issue of bullying. Quite often bullying of young people whether inside or outside school is regarded as something that is part of growing up. Is that the attitude that the Met takes, and if it is not as I hope, how do you work with local authorities and other agencies to address the issue of bullying amongst young people?

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

Eric Ollerenshaw (AM): Well I do not think he has about 12 quangos to attend Lord Harris, so perhaps he would have the time.

• Question by: Lord Duvall of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich OBE
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

In light of the grant settlement, I wonder whether it is time to revisit the level of efficiency savings you are requested to make. What representations have you made to the Mayor and what is the MPA's thinking on that? Maybe you are aware of this, but there is no comfort in terms of the other side if they ever got into national power because they say they would create extra grant for the police in terms of extra resources by savings on asylum policy, a policy based on some `fantasy island" in which they would put asylum seekers and...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

Is it not the reality that no amount of bluster, Lord Harris, can disguise the fact that this `disappointing" outcome, in the Commissioner"s words, to the negotiations represents a significant political failure by yourself as Chair of the Police Authority? Should that not lead you to consider firstly whether or not your position as a Labour Member of the House of Lords inhibits your ability to fight uninhibitedly for London's policing needs? Secondly, should you not also reconsider whether or not the professional judgement of the Commissioner might not have been better served if the lobbying was led by a...

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 10 December 2003

It is entertaining how the Labour side has attacked us and indeed the Tories today on things such as what Simon Hughes is saying and so forth, all because they do not actually know who their own candidate is and where they are going in terms of the Mayoral elections. When they get themselves sorted out they might have something more intelligent to say. Toby claims to be making the case for London, but the evidence suggests otherwise. As I understand it we are not clear what is the actual amount we will get on both the Airwave grant that...