• Question by: Anne Clarke
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Thank you. Assembly Member Clarke, please. Anne Clarke AM: Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon to the panel. I am going to start with you, Fiona. Coming on to building safety, which we have not touched on much in this meeting so far, what more can we do to ensure building safety standards are adequate, that they are appropriate and that we keep Londoners safe?

• Question by: Sakina Sheikh
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Assembly Member Sheikh, please. Thank you. Sakina Sheikh AM: Thank you, Chair. I think by this stage of the Plenary we are probably drawing on comments that have been made already, so I welcome the opportunity to tie in some threads and move towards solutions. It is what we have been discussing but I think it is good to highlight as we come to the end. Tom, Deputy Mayor, I come back to you. This is regarding what we have just been discussing in terms of rents and affordability in London and what it needs to...

• Question by: Joanne McCartney
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): All right. Assembly Member McCartney, please? Joanne McCartney AM: Thank you. We know that there are over 300,000 households in London on local authority waiting lists. I am very glad that, as we have heard from the Deputy Mayor, this Mayor has started building council homes again at the highest rate since the 1970s. But of course, housing associations have a real role to play here. Can I ask Alistair to start with, if I can? Looking at your recent strategic review, one of your challenges you identified - and I am going to quote this...

• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Assembly Member Best, please. Emma Best AM: Thank you very much. Good afternoon, panel. Deputy Mayor, you have talked a lot today about the failings perhaps you perceive. I wonder when you look ‑‑ Tom Copley (Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development): Could you repeat that, sorry? Emma Best AM: I said you have talked a lot today about the failings you perceive perhaps from the Government. When you look back at your own record and deliveries of the first London AHP and other schemes, is there anything that you think is a lesson learned...

• Question by: Sakina Sheikh
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Assembly Member Sheikh, please? Sakina Sheikh AM: Thank you, Chair. My question is to the Deputy Mayor regarding the Renters (Reform) Bill that you made reference to just now. As you will know better than me, it is four years delayed. The area of the Renters (Reform) Bill that we are particularly interested in is the ban on section 21 [of the Housing Act 1988] no-fault evictions. This four-year delay has led to more than 10,000 Londoners being evicted since it was initially promised. We are pleased to see that it is finally in Parliament, but...

• Question by: Neil Garratt
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Thank you. Assembly Member Garratt, please? Neil Garratt AM: Afternoon, everyone. Obviously, it is easy work to sit here on a panel and explain what the Government should be doing and, very quickly, without really noticing, you can commit billions of pounds of spending on vast sites that we do not own or control. You said earlier, Tom, that urgent Government action has been required. I have not quite been keeping track, but it seems to me that every time you have spoken you have explained what the Government should be doing differently or is doing...

• Question by: Krupesh Hirani
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): The question was not asked of you. It was asked specifically of Mr Colvile. Let us move on to the next Assembly Member. Assembly Member Hirani, please. Krupesh Hirani AM: Thank you. Feel free to come back on the issue of SIL, Tom Copley, because McVitie’s is a major employer in Brent, at Park Royal, and the industrial area around that area employs over 30,000 people in the area and so it is a major site in terms of employment. Do feel free to come back.

• Question by: Nick Rogers
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Thank you. Assembly Member Rogers, please? Nick Rogers AM: Thank you, Chair. Good afternoon, panel. My question is for Robert. Robert, last month [November 2023] there was a Telegraph article looking at how the Mayor’s policies hold back delivery of housing in which you were quoted. I wonder if you might be able to give us your views on how you think mayoral policies around things such as Strategic Industrial Land (SIL) are actually holding back the supply of new housing.

• Question by: Unmesh Desai
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Assembly Member Desai, please? Unmesh Desai AM: Thank you, Chair. Good afternoon, panel. My question is to the Deputy Mayor. Tom, proposals made earlier this year to expand TfL’s public transport connections have the potential to unlock 30,000 new homes. How important is investing in transport infrastructure to tackle London’s housing crisis and what is needed?

• Question by: Peter Fortune
• Meeting date: 07 December 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Thank you. Yes, please, Assembly Member Fortune. Peter Fortune AM: Thank you, Chair. If I can slightly pun off Ben Disraeli [19th-century Prime Minister], there are lies, and there are damn lies, and there are ‘Sadiqstics’. I know. Thank you very much. Tom Copley (Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development): It is a low blow. Peter Fortune AM: There is a certificate available if you can beat it. People get confused with these numbers and these different kinds of measurements, right. Let us look at raw numbers. If you build 100 houses over ten years...