• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

Would the Commissioner wish to comment?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

I am grateful to you for that very full answer. It does not convince me that this service is worth the £1.6 million that it costs. If I may draw your attention to a couple of things, are you aware that during the past year additional RNLI Lifeboat Stations have been opened in the upper Thames? I have two in my constituency for example. They have been called out to a fair number of those things you described as `other incidents' like persons in the river. Do you not think that there may now be an opportunity for suggesting that...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

One statistic that your people did not find relating to the question that I asked was how many of the fires that they were called to did they put out?

• Question by: Noel Lynch
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

I must say that I thought the fireboats were good value for money. How can we encourage fire-fighters to work in London, given the high costs of living?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

That would be an argument for extra and special treatment on funding for London. Has any such offer been forthcoming from Government?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

Did you raise with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister at the time that it was unrealistic for him to give the impression to the public that all would be funded by modernisation savings?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

Are you concerned that your stance on this undermines the stance of the Deputy Prime Minister when he said the settlement would be funded entirely from modernisation savings?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

So how much of the settlement is going to fall upon the Council Tax payer?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

It was made very clear by the Government, at the time of the settlement, that the settlement would be funded by modernisation. Are there enough modernisation savings to be had in the London Fire Brigade to fund the pay settlement? If not, who is going to make up the balance?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 12 November 2003

I think the gap is about £1.9 million is it? I wondered what steps you have taken to try to bridge that. Have you sought transitional funding from the Government for example?