• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

My understanding is that PPP has factored in a 30% increase in fares for Londoners as part of their funding regime. Does the Mayor agree with me that perhaps they are not being robust enough about penalties for poor performance? At our meeting with Keith Hill, I felt that he was a bit laissez-faire when he was questioned about the penalties and how they were going to keep the standards up. You touched on this yourself when you were talking about cleaning after these events - that sometimes it is easier for the contractors to incur penalties than to put...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

Actually, there are 41 stations across London with just one appliance each. The fire service is meeting its targets for getting appliances to incidents in 92% of cases, and Hornchurch is not one of the areas where there is difficulty in meeting the Home Office targets. We are looking closely at a couple of other areas to make sure that we do meet the targets. I am intending to come to Hornchurch, but what I want to talk about is how we can reduce risk and danger to the community there. The Fire Authority's view is that what would help...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

You are giving me quite a lengthy and - dare I say it? - rather shifty and evasive reply. It was nowhere near as lengthy when you were asked the question by people in the local area before the election: as I recall, the answer was "Yes" when you were asked whether you would reinstate their fire engine. Why did you make that promise if you knew what you know now? Nothing has changed, so why did you mislead people in that way?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

Thank you for that answer, Mayor, except that you did not answer the question. You certainly did not answer the last part, in which I re-issued my invitation to you to visit us in Hornchurch. Since you said that you would be glad to visit Fire Brigade headquarters with Val, I am rather surprised to hear that you are not happy to come and meet local residents and firefighters who have, to use Val's own words, been upset and demoralised by a letter she wrote to the Romford Recorder recently, telling them that they would not have their fire engine...

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

I am grateful for that information. Obviously, there is a good deal of transference of police officers from outer London into inner London. Do you think it is right for residents in outer London to be concerned about such a movement, particularly when it is very experienced officers who are being moved " and particularly in the context of the recently released Crime Survey figures, which showed an increase in street crime?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

Actually, I am not speaking as Chair of the Audit Committee. Are you aware, Ken, that the leader of the Conservative Group on the Fire Authority issued a press release criticising the Chief Fire Officer by name for his decision to put a small amount of the PR budget into the launch party? Do you think it is appropriate for elected politicians to criticise long-serving and capable and loyal staff members who cannot defend themselves in public? Are you aware that the recent visit of the leader of the Conservative group of the Fire Authority to the headquarters staff has...

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

It is all very reassuring to know that you are a very jolly chap and it is all a question of misunderstandings, but I do hope that there will not be other examples of this type of make-believe.

• Question by: Brian Coleman
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

I am absolutely outraged by that. I actually declined the invitation to your party in the first place, so I have been totally consistent on this matter. When a previous Fire Authority has cut front-line services, I am prepared to criticise anybody who gives £2,000 from the Fire Brigade budget to pay for a drinks party at the Tate Modern, and I do not care who it is. As for the alleged "recent" visit that I and the deputy group leader of the Fire Authority made, it was back on August. Perhaps the reason that the Chair of the Fire...

• Question by: Trevor Phillips
• Meeting date: 18 October 2000

No - until the people spoke. The problem is public sector pay. Our concern is that, for whatever reason, you said clearly at the event that we had not paid a penny. That is the kind of thing that potentially brings us into disrepute. I think we want to make it absolutely clear what happened. Since this is the first that most of us hearing about it, perhaps you could say what is in mind for July next year.