• Question by: Zack Polanski
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Zack Polanski AM: Thank you, Chair. Mr Mayor, expert after expert says lifting the child benefit cap could take 300,000 children out of poverty. [Prime Minister, Sir] Kier Starmer says there is no money left, but we are making suggestions like a wealth tax, bringing capital gains tax in line with income tax, and borrowing. In your conversations with the Prime Minister for Londoners, are you at least encouraging looking at some of these options?

• Question by: Sem Moema
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Sem Moema AM: Thank you, Chair. I wanted to, in the spirit of conversations and what this new Labour Government that we on this side have been so desperate for, what they have given us. In a couple of short months, it has achieved something that various iterations of the previous Conservative Government could not do and that was the Renters’ Reform Bill. I just wanted to challenge some of the assumptions and the assertions made. I really welcome and I know that Londoners really welcome the fact that there will be once-per-year increases to rents rather than landlords being...

• Question by: Lord Bailey of Paddington
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Lord Bailey of Paddington AM: Thank you, Chair. Hello again, Mr Mayor. In a recent article from the MHCLG, the Government, your Government, the new Government, stated that: “The Government is clear that the recent housing delivery in London has fallen well short of what is needed.” Also, you have spoken to us at length about your great relationship with the Government. You have boasted that you spoke to Sue Gray [Downing Street Chief of Staff] four times in one day. My question to you is: what additional help has it offered you to speed up your housebuilding in London?

• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Emma Best AM: Thank you, Chair. Mr Mayor, the last Labour Government left office trying to close our hospital in Whipps Cross and one of the first actions of this Labour Government was to take the diggers and workers off the ground in the construction of our new hospital in Whipps Cross. In 2022 you acknowledged the issues at Whipps Cross, the issues with flooding and the fact we are in dire need of a new hospital, and you agreed then that you would write to the Prime Minister as well as the representations you had already made to the...

• Question by: Alessandro Georgiou
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Alessandro Georgiou AM: Good morning, Mr Mayor. Very briefly, because I do not want to get drummed out of my magic circle over here by actually saying thank you to the Deputy Mayor for Transport for his quick handling of the Sullivan Buses issue. I would say that in my own ward of Cockfosters, which I represent as a councillor, the delays from Sullivan were very well known to TfL prior to them losing that contract. TfL did step in quickly to replace the bus services which I, and my residents, are grateful for but just to relay to you...

• Question by: Thomas Turrell
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Thomas Turrell AM: Thank you, Mr Chairman. Good morning, Mr Mayor. The PEEL report, as you mentioned, makes reference to the A New Met for London plan, which includes an ambition to open new police bases across the capital. Yet despite this, the police are planning to exit the lease on the William Barefoot Drive police base, the reason being given another base is being opened elsewhere in Greenwich. Can I clarify if there is a one in/one out policy to police bases at the moment?

• Question by: Leonie Cooper
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Léonie Cooper AM: Thank you, Chair. You referred earlier on, Mr Mayor, to the underfunding issue. I can remember back in the day when the first Mayor of London first introduced the dedicated ward teams and they operated on a 321 basis, three Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), two police constables, and one Sergeant in every ward across London. From 2014/15 we have seen a billion pounds taken out of the MPS across London. When we are talking about requires improvement or inadequate, would you agree with me that the funding for the MPS across London, which you have tried...

• Question by: Lord Bailey of Paddington
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Lord Bailey of Paddington AM: Thank you, Chair. Good morning again, Mr Mayor. Assembly Member Roberts made some comments about the assurances we have received from the Deputy Mayor over the years about the progress she had made in making MOPAC look more closely at the police. We have had umpteen different meetings where she has given so many assurances and talked about the meetings and the new structures and the new profiles and all the new tactics going on. Do you feel like they have worked?

• Question by: Alex Wilson
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Alex Wilson AM: Thank you, Chair. It makes more sense for me to come in now than to wait for my question as it was tabled later on in the agenda. Some of this you have already obviously discussed in response to Assembly Member Hall’s questions, but I think it is worth repeating for the sake of everybody watching, as a reminder, just exactly how damning this report is and has been, where the best score for any of the headline measures is merely adequate, that being for police powers and treating the public fairly and respectfully. But everything else...

• Question by: Lord Bailey of Paddington
• Meeting date: 12 September 2024

Lord Bailey of Paddington AM: Good morning, Mr Mayor. Given the fact that the police cadets is the most diverse thing the MPS does, there are children from all of our communities involved in this, it is the best interface the police have with young people. It is a two-way interface to learn an awful lot about it. Of course, it acts as a recruitment gateway. Could we make a plea that you put some funds in? We know that you have supported police, that is fine, but could you specifically put some money into the police cadets to make...