• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 23 October 2002

Given that the Tories are trying to present themselves as champions of the suburbs, I thought you let them off rather lightly and I was wondering whether you would reflect on the fact that the greatest damage that has been done to our suburbs was the free-fire permission of out-of-town shopping centres and the failure to invest in public transport over the last generation. I wonder whether the Tory question is a metaphor for their confusion and stuckness, as a party, in the London context here.

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 23 October 2002

Are you, with the LDA, looking at evidence of what is happening, co-ordinating bus developments with physical man-planning developments? Because I think it would be very helpful to know what the evidence is showing.

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 23 October 2002

Without a major increase in public sector investment, surely the whole of the London Plan will have to be reconsidered. Can you implement the London Plan without a major increase in public funding from the Government?

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 23 October 2002

Whilst accepting the need to build further affordable housing to attract and retain key workers for London, have you considered the impact your London Plan may have on existing council tenants and estates that are in desperate need of regeneration?

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 23 October 2002

Where the bus services have been improved, do you have any evidence yet that that is enabling people to work locally rather than commuting long distances? Because, if improved bus services don't assist in that area, what we are going to see is that people who live in outer London continue to travel into the City and inner East London to take up the jobs.

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 23 October 2002

You mentioned the issue of public transport capacity as one of the criteria for density. I think you would accept that accessibility as well as capacity is important. Elsewhere in the Plan, you say that the majority of journeys in the suburbs are likely to continue to be by car. If that is so, and sadly I agree that it is so because we do not see much other than buses by way of public transport development outside the area we know about, do those two statements really lie together? We are going to have more dense development and still...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 18 September 2002

I'm not at all surprised that the Mayor wishes to turn this around into a positive statement given the huge number of delays there have been to his own timetable for the publication of various strategies. Can I deal with the particular ones that we've referred to - the Children And Young Persons Strategy - which is important because, as with a number of others, so many other things depend on it? Can you tell us when it will be published and why it has been subject to continuing delay?

• Question by: Victor Anderson
• Meeting date: 18 September 2002

Given that Graham Tope is your cabinet advisor on human rights and equality, wouldn't it be more constructive if he put some time into the work of drawing up the Cultural Strategy and the Children's Strategy? Wouldn't that be more constructive than sitting here complaining?

• Question by: Trevor Phillips
• Meeting date: 18 September 2002

For information, Norman Lebrecht was the art correspondent of The Daily Telegraph for many years. I gather he's now moved to The Standard.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 18 September 2002

I think you'll find he's rather well known in the world of art actually.