• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Listening to you, it sounds a bit as though you might fall into the trap of pitting one part of the country against another. I cannot believe that you are doing this, but I think that a "fair deal for London" case should be bound up with the case for a fair deal for the country. London is the United Kingdom's only chance of a world city. Especially in the global economy, it has massive opportunities for creating GDP for this country. We have just brought out together "Policy Directions for London", which shows that, if we go on as...

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

So why are you debating in Carlton, then, with the Scots?

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

There have been pilot studies already, in which CCTV cameras have been installed, and in some areas they have led to over 100 prosecutions. What you are doing is procrastinating and putting off the day when this starts. Bus conductors and drivers are being assaulted in this city on a daily basis. I have here a list of how the assaults happened. It is not just drug addicts - it is people who refuse to pay fares, for example, or people who assault a bus driver because the bus does not go far enough. You have courted the vote of...

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

I apologise for the heading that has been given to the question. It is not about drug dealing on Routemasters: it is about safety on Routemasters. In your draft transport strategy, proposal F34, you say, "Safety is of course vital, and will always be a priority. There must be high standards of safe bus operation, with continued reviews to strengthen the monitoring of safety and vehicle maintenance." You do not go on to say how that can be delivered and exercised. At present, only 4% of London buses have CCTV. If we continue at the current rate of investment in...

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Can we talk really clearly here? With 10 weeks to go, are you saying that the GLA will be producing a document which will tell Londoners, "This event is going on, but you attend at your own risk"? Would you also agree with the reps I met last night from the British Steel Band Association, which is 50 years old this week, that somebody, if not you, should be brave and say that there has to be a separation between the street elements and components of Carnival and the huge sound systems? From what I have heard, it seems that...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

I think that is right, and I understand that everybody is going into the discussion on what might have to happen next year with an open mind on precisely what you may settle on. The Mayor: No: people are not going in with an open mind. Angie Bray: I am certain that the boroughs are. The Mayor: We had a meeting. Everybody present at the meeting agreed that we need a linear route - except Kensington. Westminster took that view, the police take that view, I take that view, and the Notting Hill Carnival Trust does. Kensington was not committing...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Thank you for that. I am slightly surprised that you did not mention your meeting yesterday with some of the key agencies. I was delighted with the way it went, and I think everybody is very happy with the outcome of those discussions. I am delighted that you will all be working together to see how you can further enhance the Carnival in 2002, with possible changes to all sorts of things, possibly including the route. Can I press you slightly about the stewards? I am aware, as I am sure you are, that, in many ways, what you have...

• Question by: Toby Harris
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

Can I return to the question of stewarding? Could you be precise about who is responsible for awarding the contract for stewarding? What is the tendering process, and what are the arrangements for ensuring that none of those involved in the process of awarding the contracts have pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in the companies concerned?

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 20 June 2001

I am pleased that we are using our discretion to exert influence on the issue of Norwood Junction, with people being able to take advantage of that investment. When it comes, it will be important in terms of regeneration of the area around South Norwood. People do not have as good a service at Norwood Junction as they should for such a major station. On an issue related to Norwood Junction and the Cullen report published yesterday, do you feel that there is a role for us as an authority in using that discretion to influence the SRA on the...

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

Even though the market has been saved, houses and pubs are still going to be knocked down around London Bridge. It is yet another example of how the south-east misses out. In our present culture, people seem to think it is all right to destroy something like this, and it is nonsense.