• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 05 September 2001

That's quite depressing news. Because of course this is another visionary, radical commonsense initiative that we'd very much hoped for and I know the boroughs themselves hoped that stage two would be completed by March because it would have helped them with their air policy strategies. So is that a definitive answer from you?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 04 April 2001

I suspect that it could be more of a propaganda campaign, because clearly local people are not convinced of the safety of what you and Val have supported. If Eileen did approach Val about it, she would have discovered, of course, that Val Shawcross, as the Labour Chairman of the authority, and her Labour colleagues had voted to remove the fire engine, whereas the local Labour MPs and the local Labour council are in favour of having the fire engine returned. A similar dichotomy exists with the Liberal Democrats, except that Louise Bloom abstained, thus proving she and her colleague...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 04 April 2001

I thank you for that, and I would be grateful for a copy of the response and the original letter. When you answered that question from me, you advised me to approach Val Shawcross as the Chair of the Fire Authority. Did you advise Eileen Gordon to do that?

• Question by: Toby Harris
• Meeting date: 04 April 2001

Given the concern that has been expressed about heart attack recovery rates, will the Mayor be prepared to sponsor, as part of the extraordinary expenditure on consultation around his transport strategy, some work to assess whether the arrival of speed humps is actually killing more people, who do not get to hospital in time as a result of heart attacks, than it is saving in terms of deaths because of reduced speed?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 04 April 2001

How would you help me, then, with a small problem I have? [Laughter.] I am not talking about the small problem to my left. Unfortunately, Fire Brigades Union is briefing its members at the moment against participation in what they call "first responder and co-responder schemes". The London regional newsletter says: "The General Secretary issued a circular to all members on 26 January instructing members that, until Conference has arrived at a definitive position" - ray of hope, ray of hope - "all members should oppose the introduction of and should not participate in any new first responder or co-responder...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 04 April 2001

I am sure you agree that it is an absolute scandal that the survival rate from cardiac arrest in London is about 2%. Seattle, for instance, has brought it up to 30% to 40%, and that is what we should be doing. Would you therefore support the Fire Authority in seeking to develop pilots in fire stations, where we train and equip firefighters to respond to cardiac arrests?

• Question by: Trevor Phillips
• Meeting date: 04 April 2001

: I do not intend to issue any press releases. I am only interested in value for money, and your good name, Ken. [Laughter.] I worry about people saying that this is a terrible Kim Il Sung exercise to get Ken's face around the town on posters. Perhaps one way that you could help us to get out there and explain to people that it is nothing of the sort, and that this is a genuine exercise in consultation, is if you could let us know how many of the responses were derived from the forms which were sent out...

• Question by: Trevor Phillips
• Meeting date: 04 April 2001

Those figures are indeed stunning, Ken. Let's leave aside the 99,000 clicks, which you could have employed someone to do. Let's deal with the substantive responses, of which there were 20,000 - which to my reckoning, from what you have just said, works out at about £30 per response. Don't you think that that is pretty absurdly expensive, especially in the light of the press release which I gather has just been issued - amazingly, it has been issued almost at the same time as the words came out of your mouth - that 3.1 million leaflets went to Londoners'...

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 04 April 2001

Can I clarify, then? We would not know in London whether we had an Olympic bid in place until 2004 or 2005 - even if, in July, you and the Government and others decide that it is worth backing. But between now and 2004/05, how realistic is it that some of these projects will get the go-ahead, when we could be competing against New York and Paris for an Olympic Games in 2012? I hope that we could all work together to stand four square behind the communities in east London, to push for these improvements to genuinely begin to...

• Question by: Meg Hillier
• Meeting date: 04 April 2001

We all know the many regeneration projects that are currently under way, but my concern - I am thinking particularly of Hackney, which is among the boroughs I represent - is that, if we wait for an Olympic bid for 2012, effectively the area will be blighted for another four or five years while we await a firm decision. There are a number of imaginative plans for regeneration in that area, and they are effectively put on hold while we wait. In addition, transport projects, particularly the Hackney to south-west London line, are currently not projected to happen for some...