• Question by: Louise Bloom
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Thank you for that. Could you also perhaps - The Chair: Could you make this the last one, Louise? Louise Bloom: Yes. Could you also, perhaps, give some thought to making our work here more accessible to the people out there, which I do not think it is at the moment? I am thinking of both public events and meetings and the publications we issue.

• Question by: Louise Bloom
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

I have noticed that you have had meetings with, for example, the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and with the Greater London Association of Disability. I would like to see you getting out and talking to, for example, Richmond Advice and Information on Disability, for whom I used to work, and instead of going to the National Association of CABx, why don't you go and talk to Kingston CAB? It worries me that you are not getting down far enough to the people who are out there working on the street with community groups in the voluntary sector. You...

• Question by: Louise Bloom
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Following on from that point, you have talked about engaging with the general public, Ken, but when you were first elected, you made a big deal of the fact that you wanted to have a good dialogue with the voluntary sector. I do not feel that that has happened over the last year to the extent it could have done. What plans do you have for a better dialogue with the voluntary sector?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Last one from me for the moment: how will you judge, say in two year's time, whether we have been effective in our engaging with the public? What are your criteria for success?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Jenny Jones: This is quite a small point, but we want to be an open and accessible organisation. In this building, we have started shutting half the metal door - Brian Coleman: That is to keep your friends out, dear. Jenny Jones: We were picketed yesterday by the taxi drivers, I notice, but none of them got out of their cabs. Why are we closing the door? It is an indicator of how we are starting to be a bit frightened about London.

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Before I move on to Jenny, could I come back to the point about meetings with borough leaders and chief executives? At last week's meeting, Toby Harris, in his capacity as Chair of the MPA, told us that he is aiming to have two meetings each year with each borough. Do you agree that it would be helpful to build up personal relationships with borough leaders so that, when issues such as the precept to be levied come on to the agenda, there is a context of personal relationships and general understanding which can help to inform that debate?

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

The reason that this is working better today is that there is an opportunity to have a conversation about an issue, and not simply make political points. When you take public Question Time out to the people, there is the same difficulty - a lot of ground to cover and a very short time for answers. So I am saying that, if there can be a debate - if you can limit the focus of a public debate - you might have the same opportunity to develop it and actually hear what people think across the range. And if there...

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

You have your advisers as well, and engagement in policy, which engages people as effective partners. Yes, it is about debate and disagreements, picking things up and working forward on issues we can agree on. It means that you need to have a different style of engagement in the matters you have dealt with to date. Development phase or not, are your advisers on board with this engagement style? We could look at the ALG: there are examples where things have not gone right, where sensitivities have not been respected, on both sides. Do you not accept that you could...

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Do you think you will do that by sitting here or in the new building and thinking that the boroughs will just dance to your tune by virtue of your position?

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

At the strategic level of engagement - this goes to the heart of your mayoralty - unless you engage with some of these stakeholders in a different way, you will never be able to do anything, because, as you said, everything in terms of the spatial development strategy is delivered by the boroughs on the ground. Where do you think your mayoralty is going once you have delivered on these plans? What are your aspirations? Have I missed something?