• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

No, they are not. There is a 10.00pm cut-off. This is a peculiar curfew. I have asked a number of people in the hierarchy of Transport for London; nobody understands it. I have witnessed, at first hand, children or minors paying the full fare after 10.00pm. I would like an unequivocal statement on what should happen. And on the buses there should be a notice so that this does not continue. I asked you this question last year and I was told that there is no difference; I get the information from Transport for London; and time and again I...

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

Could you tell me what fare a 10-year old should pay at 10.00pm?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

Do you believe that there is a looming budget crisis in Transport for London which is going to make initiatives like this unaffordable?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

There will be an option in your budget but you can't undertake yet that that option will be carried out.

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

I appreciate that you have got a very difficult budget round to go through with Transport for London, but I sense that you are retreating a bit further still from what you said last month, when you retreated from free travel to half-rate travel; you indicated you were hoping to do that in this year's budget; and now you're retreating from that and saying that it's an aspiration but you may not be able to fund it.

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

That leaves me a bit more confused. You've defined the process but the problem we have is that you didn't have this as a priority when you were first elected; you then rejected it this year by saying it was unaffordable; you then, in the summer, made a commitment at a public gathering in East London that you were going to extend free travel to all under-18s; and you then, about a week later, reported that, in fact, you only meant half-price travel. We're still rather confused. What's interesting is that you can go to any meeting of young people...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

I think everyone wants to see it, not least the schools who are not able to take part, because of the location, effectively in this scheme. Can I urge you - and I will urge the train operating companies again - to speed up the negotiations, to be realistic about it, and to stop discrimination against large numbers of young people throughout London, simply on a geographical basis?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

Having just consulted with our parliamentary local government spokesperson, I can say that we will be very happy to move another amendment to allow bond issues in the forthcoming Local Government Finance Bill and I hope the Conservatives will encourage their colleagues in parliament, at this time, to support us. However, that wasn't my question. I want to turn to the School Party Travel Scheme. Quite significant parts of London are not within easy reach of the London Underground system and, therefore, at best inhibited in using the scheme. The train operating companies tell me they are very happy to...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

I seem to recall that in your recent comments about subsidising transport for the under-18s, you were suggesting that that money would be coming, partly at least, from the congestion charge income. We have also heard from you recently that that expectation of revenue is going down and down, so everything is going to be fighting very hard for a small amount of money. Have you explored other ways of raising money in order to put money into some of your transport aspirations and I wonder whether one of the ways might be to raise a bond? I am wondering...

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 16 October 2002

Have you had this discussion with the business community? You might think that they're not up for it but until you can tell us that you have had the discussion and explored it using your LBA links "