• Question by: Sem Moema
• Meeting date: 18 July 2024

Sem Moema AM: Thank you. Really briefly, just to piggyback off what Assembly Member Duvall has talked about, I wanted to ask you about previous comments you made about the possibilities that multiyear funding deals would offer, not just around housing but also around transport. I think of the schemes that we have talked about that TfL, for example, is bringing forward to build homes on its own land and juxtaposing that with the defence of carparks, which for some reason is still ongoing in the public sphere in some areas. Just in my own constituency, we have Leyton Mills...

• Question by: Lord Duvall of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich OBE
• Meeting date: 18 July 2024

Len Duvall AM (Deputy Chair): Thank you, Chair. There are lots of problems about providing new homes to London. One of those is capacity. The Government has rightly identified the lack of planning officers in terms of that. What is your view on that particular issue, the capacity issue? What would speed up some of the issues in London, given our experience to date around some of those issues?

• Question by: Bassam Mahfouz
• Meeting date: 18 July 2024

Bassam Mahfouz AM: Thank you, Chair. I can appreciate Lord Bailey’s genuine interest in developing housing across the capital, but wanted to ask you: do you think that all London boroughs are treating the housing crisis with the same seriousness it warrants? I just want to give you some context as an example of the two boroughs that I represent to reflect what I feel is a clear contrast. Between 2016, when you got elected, and 2023, Labour-run Ealing completed 4,171 homes whilst neighbouring Tory-run Hillingdon completed just 971, less than a quarter. In terms of responding to the exponential...

• Question by: Andrew Boff
• Meeting date: 18 July 2024

Andrew Boff AM: If we can go on the clock now, it is getting to sound like a referral to the London Drugs Forum sounds a bit like kicking into the long grass. One action that you could take straight away to reduce the harm on Londoners, especially young Londoners, is to follow what the Assembly decided in a motion on 22 February [2024] and that is to provide funding to set up two drugs testing centres, which allow people to have those possibly contaminated drugs tested and also, therefore, open the door to them for other services that may...

• Question by: Zoë Garbett
• Meeting date: 18 July 2024

Zoë Garbett AM: Yes. Thank you. This has been really helpful. Just to add the important perspective of how the stigma of drug use currently means that people do not seek the help that they want to get. I have spoken to families where children and their friends are worried about seeking help or calling ambulances because of the fact drugs are illegal and not legally regulated. If that could also be incorporated, I would be grateful. Thank you.

• Question by: Lord Duvall of Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich OBE
• Meeting date: 18 July 2024

Len Duvall AM (Deputy Chair): We on this side want to echo and support some of the comments that Assembly Member Lord Bailey made in terms of harm to the community. There is a difference between legalisation of drugs and the declassification, but the important thing that was said earlier, which I can agree with my colleagues, is that we need to have the debate and it needs an evidence base. But we must always remember the harm and distress caused to sections of our communities that do not always have to support networks that others have and do not...

• Question by: Lord Bailey of Paddington
• Meeting date: 18 July 2024

Lord Bailey of Paddington AM: Thank you, Chair. Good afternoon, Mr Mayor. I just want to quickly talk about this Drugs Commission. You have been very clear to say it is not about drugs; it is about cannabis. But we have to remember that legal drugs also cause a great deal of harm in society. I lost my brother to alcoholism. I have worked with a number of young people who have been murdered because of the drug trade. I want to make sure that in your estimation and your reply to drugs that you have taken into account the...

• Question by: Hina Bokhari OBE
• Meeting date: 18 July 2024

Hina Bokhari AM: Child poverty can be reduced immediately by scrapping the two-child benefit cap. Will you be writing to this next Government as you did with the last?