• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

When will you be able to tell us?

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

I find that very puzzling. Minutes ago, you were saying to John Biggs that you would like an openness and transparency and that the commercial confidentiality agreements were a bit troublesome at times. Now you're saying that you can't even give us a bit more information just because you're in discussions with the company you have chosen to do it. Now, if you've chosen the company to do it, alone that fact would give us a bit more information about what might be being planned. Can you not tell us? Are you planning to light up the river? Are you...

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

That would certainly fit with current practice. At last, Chair, we are beginning to get a modicum of vision here from the Mayor but a modicum with only ten months to go before New Year's Eve. I understand your concerns, as we do on the Assembly, about thousands of people in London but when you talk about something fit for a world city, can you not give us some more details given that New Year's Eve is only ten months away and Londoners have been letting us know their views about this? The emails and the responses that we received...

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

The point being that there is always a problem with transport; we can remove the problems with transport if we do things more locally. Do you agree with that?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

I'm also interested in whether or not it's going to be rather more diverse, i.e. spread out more round London.

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

I suppose we all agree you're fickle, Mr Mayor. When we conducted the scrutiny here into the great New Year's Eve party that didn't happen two years ago, it was put to us by all the public service people, particularly the police, that major events like that needed at least 18 months to prepare. Given there is now only 10 months to go, and given you don't want to tell us anything about your plans, can you give us assurances that you have at least been discussing them with the police and the transport services and so on, or are...

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

I am talking about the pedestrian crossing, not about the route. I am in favour of the route, I'm not asking about that. I was asking about shouldn't you have been talking to the council earlier than you have been?

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

Third time sort of lucky. A slightly more detailed answer than the other two times that I've put this in, Ken. It's disappointing about the quality of the answer because people locally are very concerned. All we've got from your office, or from you, when I've asked this question before is broad statements about the general principle. What you're actually saying is nothing much here. I appreciate, and we understand, that Hackney Council has a role here but, when planning a bus route, it would surely be sensible to be discussing with the council from day one the location of...

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

There are two there. Is it up to Tooting Broadway or is it up to Morden?

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 26 February 2003

Going back to the tax on south Londoners, the issue that I wanted to get in on is the little bit about the regeneration potential for Mitcham and Streatham. There are real issues for Streatham and south London with ELLX not going ahead and issues around the Thameslink. But you have on the table or you have on the feasibility table, issues around the extension to the Tramlink. I was wanting to know how important is regeneration going to be in your decision-making process about where the Tramlink extensions to Croydon are going to be. There are areas between, say...