• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

There are four headings in the TfL budget where you admit to having a large underspend this year and yet you are asking for increased money for those budgets for next year. To me, that demonstrates poor budgeting, irresponsible planning and I want to be reassured that you're not simply being greedy and padding your budget, which I think you are doing.

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

Good morning, gentlemen. The thing that I'm very concerned about is that we seem to endlessly find huge amounts of money for big projects and yet consistently find it absolutely impossible to do those smaller scale human projects that would actually make a difference to ordinary Londoners rather than people who are desperate to get into London from outside. My first question is, apart from building the Coulsdon by-pass at a cost of £28 million, and giving the go ahead to the upgrading of the A13, which is £200 million, and then proposing to build two new road river crossings...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

Thank you for that. I don't think that's an answer. I have promised people that I might not be able to cut tax but, after you, I will definitely be able to cut waste. Could we have an answer to the question, please?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

Just taking us back to the centre of TfL for a moment, your plans for the future of Transport for London require seven different marketing and communications departments. Don't you think that's a recipe for waste and muddle?

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

Yes, there are certain lessons we shouldn't learn from New York. Finally, police overtime, which is, as we know, another running issue. What can you do - I am addressing this specifically to the Mayor - to persuade the MPS to seek to reduce that overtime figure?

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

You mentioned in your introduction the balance between traditional officers and PCSOs. You didn't mention the balance between uniformed officers and PCSOs and civilians and that's been another debate which has been going on. At the same MQT you said, on the question of civilianisation, 'It would be absolutely mad for me to announce what we're doing before we've had the debate about that and developed the sophisticated techniques we want to see' I understand that the budget reflects the proportion of civilian staff to uniformed officers, which has been traditional - Ian Blair is nodding so I think we...

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

: I would have more confidence - and I don't need a publicity campaign telling me about police on the streets because it's part of the plan - if I thought that, knowing that money is bound to be limited, however much we all want to spend on the police, to be committed to the budget going, perhaps disproportionately to policing numbers, at the very time when the MPS is identifying how many more bangs for the bucks could be achieved by a different approach, doesn't seem to me to be necessary or a proper approach. I have to say...

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

In your explanation about rises in TfL budgets and the need for more money - something I can subscribe to; we all need more money - would you not acknowledge that, in terms of the increases that you have had from central Government grant - I sometimes wonder whether you acknowledge this - of 17.8% increase this year in Government grant, with 47.3% increase last year, combined with everything else, do you not think that in terms of some of the cases that you make, some of the arguments you put forward could be much better, and you can acknowledge...

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

So, in essence, the next Transport Strategy will have business cases and finance alongside it, this time integrated. Is that what you're saying?

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 22 January 2003

You alluded to, earlier on, some of the longer terms problems that you have in the budget. Can you tell us where the board are on in urging you to bring forward proposals to tackle some of those problems?