• Question by: Louise Bloom
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

I will certainly take you up on that. Also, will the Round Table be seeing the draft strategies and be able to comment on them?

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

Could I get you back to the point that Elizabeth Howlett was making? You seem to have considerable support and help from the Labour Government in implementing your congestion charge. Would you not agree that this flies in the face of the sort of stance we see among the Labour group here at the moment, which is that they are not really very keen on it?

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

The success of the congestion charge, as you yourself have said, partly depends upon people seeing it as justified. One of the problems is that residents in Croydon and Sutton are going to be paying 10 times what people in Mayfair will pay. You said that there are issues in terms of getting in place a real investment in public transport in outer London until some way down the line. Do you think that there is a conflict there? Since no Assembly meeting can pass without mention of the Coulsdon inner relief road, may I say that I am very...

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

Certainly, if you cannot improve public transport, you will not get another term, and judging by what happened this morning, when it took me one hour and 45 minutes to come in from Southfields on the District line, it is in a very poor state. I consider that it is in a worse state since November, since they have been running the shadow specification for the PPP. I am against PPP. That does not mean that I am against privatisation - I am not - but I do think that the specification they are running now is cutting costs in...

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

I wondered about that. I understand that the Government were quite keen to bring in congestion charging in other metropolitan areas, but they have gone a bit quiet on it. Do you think they are waiting to see how you get on? Do you think you are being hung out to dry by the Government on the issue?

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

So that is quite a lot of help, or information.

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

Yes, this issue is important, is it not, in terms of Londoners' health, and also in terms of boroughs having their own discretion? Bearing in mind that there is a tremendous variation in the rapidity of rubbish collection, between collection twice a week in some inner London boroughs and, at the other extreme, Sutton, where perishable rubbish is collected only once a fortnight, it would be useful if we gave some guidance to those who take that risk with public health.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

Certainly on this side of the political divide, we welcome the arrival of Mr Kiley in London; and I think you should be congratulated on catching such a big fish to come and sort out the problems in London's transport. I am sure that he will have greater skills in doing that than the Deputy Prime Minister has. However, we have concerns, which were expressed in the Opposition Day debate in the House of Commons earlier this week, that there seems to be an unnecessary - I might say unacceptable - amount of secrecy in the way in which the...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

As the Mayor knows, in the debate that he attended the other day, which was precipitated by the Opposition, and rather fell flat on its face, the Government clearly welcomed the appointment of a man with the track record of Bob Kiley, expressed their desire to work with him, and confirmed that he had been given all manner of confidential information, subject to a confidentiality clause - which I suspect means that he should not disclose it to you, but I do not know. I would take issue with your assertion that this matter is now suddenly only about safety...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

We too welcome Bob Kiley's appointment; congratulations again on getting such a big fish. Do you think there is a positive role for the Labour group here, as well as yourself, in persuading the Government to release the PPP information; or do you think that they are too interested in clinging to the wreckage of Frank Dobson's election manifesto on PPP? [Laughter.]