• Question by: Louise Bloom
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

I wanted to ask you about the role of consultants at the MPA. We see that there is a budget reduction on external consultants. We also know that there are many hundreds of consultants at the MPA, many of whom we're not quite sure what they're doing; consulting on each other, reviewing each other's reviews and all the rest of these wonderful things consultants get to do. Perhaps you can tell us how the savings are going to be made and are we going to get value for money on their work in the next year?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

That doesn't take into account what's been happening in the boroughs and it doesn't take into account the exhaustion that a lot of officers are feeling and the stress it's created. You cannot say that £22 million covers that particular account.

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

The fact is, if the Government had given us what they owe us for the amount of anti-terrorist policing that the Met has done, then we wouldn't have to argue over a few million here and there.

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

What I'm concerned about is that, especially in view of the reallocation of traffic police that's happened because of the cost of the anti-terrorist policing, what we're actually going to see this year is another year's increase in road fatalities and road accidents. I'm very concerned that that's going to happen. That's happened for the previous two years and could happen again. Now, I think that the MPA and the Met will bear a responsibility for that, if it happens when we get the figures in March.

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

It does depend on how much weight is given by the Chair of an authority and how much airtime is given. Therefore, I'm asking you, will you personally accept the recommendations that come out of that workshop?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

You're suggesting, if that workshop comes up with some recommendations, then you would accept those recommendations?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

There's also the fact that the Mayor's road safety strategy asks that the Met should specify what resources it's actually putting into road safety. That has not been done. Can you tell me why?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

I take that point. Now, the Government has set targets for road safety. Do you think that the MPA can actually play its part in achieving those targets, if it doesn't actually set road safety as one of its formal priorities?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

That's obviously what I meant. There are other things that you could do with the money that suits the area. The idea of the road river crossings is apparently to bring about regeneration in east London. Is that the best way of doing it? Do we not need an independent study looking at alternative ways forward of delivering regeneration in east London without building new roads which will lead to more traffic, more air pollution, and more congestion?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 16 January 2002

My next question isn't very fair but it's the third issue that's very close to my heart and that's road safety. The fact is that we greatly need a partnership between TfL, the boroughs and the police. At the moment TfL and the boroughs do seem to be putting in the necessary budget for it but the police are clearly not putting in the budget. In fact the budget figures for this year are less than in the 1980s and 1990s. It sounds to me as if we can anticipate a rise in road deaths this year and that would...