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

It is worth saying that one of the best approaches to a political retreat is to run like hell and cause as much confusion as possible, and I think that Ken has done that fairly well today. In his Mayor's Report to the last meeting, he said clearly: "Unlike last year, transport services will not be running late into the night." In a written reply, he then said: "I have not yet agreed any proposals for public transport times"; and in the minutes of the meeting, in reply to an oral question, he said: "I have made it clear that...

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

Thanks: I am very grateful for that. This is a serious issue, and if we do not start taking the transport of nuclear waste more seriously, we could end up with a very different type of fireworks display in London. Do you welcome the Assembly's inquiry into this matter?

• Question by: Victor Anderson
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

How will flooding, now that it seems a lot more serious than it was six months ago, be taken into account in the strategies, particularly the spatial development strategy and the planning of the Thames Gateway, and also, perhaps, the siting of the new GLA building?

• Question by: Victor Anderson
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

Part (b) of the question is about the proportion of the households that are currently included in the defence warning system.

• Question by: Victor Anderson
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

You say that the system covers all the properties, but does it cover all the people? People have to opt into the scheme as individuals, don't they, according to my information?

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

For the record, I am absolutely with you on this, Ken. I do not have a vendetta on this issue. The flooding was a wake-up call for London. Some of Roger Evans's constituents were flooded when the River Roding burst its banks. In my constituency, much of which is on the mud flats of the Thames, Environment Agency officers sitting at the back of meetings for years have been quietly disregarded when they have raised these issues. Many people in very expensive houses in Wapping, for example, are below the high water level and rely on pumping systems. It is...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

Many Londoners live above Teddington, above the tidal Thames, particularly on the islands such as Trowlock* Island and Tags* Island. Many of them were very disappointed that the Thames barrier was not lowered to protect them. Given that, in your day, when the barrier was built, they contributed through the GLC precept, I wonder whether you can try to persuade the Environment Agency to use their influence in seeing that the barrier is used to protect those residents who live above Teddington and are subject to flooding.

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

Mr Mayor, in your contacts with Government Departments and members of the Government over the Dome, will you make representations to the Minister for the Dome, Lord Falconer, that it really would be a good idea if he were to come and talk to the Assembly about the project in which he has been involved, if he expects himself and the Assembly created by the Government to be taken seriously? So far, he has disgracefully refused to appear before us.

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

I thank the Mayor for dealing with the easy subject for today. Consistent with his planning responsibilities - if there was an application for a material change of use, he would have to take a view - can he assure us that he will keep in the closest touch to ensure that the regeneration objectives of the area are kept at the top of the agenda?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 15 November 2000

Does the same principle apply to civil servants from the Government Office for London, who refused only yesterday to attend a public session of the Environment Committee to discuss the new building?