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• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 06 February 2015

Jenny Jones AM: On this substantive issue, I am very concerned that you are actually releasing too much industrial land because the vacancy rate on industrial land has actually halved in the past 15 years and is now lower than retail vacancies. I am concerned that you are talking about surplus land when, actually, it is not surplus because small businesses still need to be near centres of population and they still need to be near town centres. I just wonder how much research you have done on this.

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 17 December 2014

Jenny Jones AM: I have not been convinced by these arguments about keeping Wormwood Scrubs open space inside the MDC. The council that currently has it in their borough is against it. The Friends of the Open Space are against it. It looks like a mayoral land grab. It does not look like a coherent plan. Sir Edward Lister (Mayor's Chief of Staff): If I may, it is a coherent plan, but they do not agree with it. Jenny Jones AM: Do you not think you should be interested in localism: that decisions for local people for local land should...

• Reference: 2014/3021
• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 10 September 2014

It is over ten years since the Institute of Occupational Medicine did their study on the health impacts of tube dust, which concluded that dust levels were ‘highly unlikely’ to cause serious damage to staff and public. Since then, there have been considerable advances in our understanding of the health impacts of particulate matter. For example, we now know that brake and tyre wear plays a major part in urban road pollution, which may be comparable to tube dust, and the WHO now states that “there is no evidence of a safe level of exposure or a threshold below which...

• Reference: 2014/3022
• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 10 September 2014

The Tube’s Tunnel Cleaning Train, originally planned to begin operation in 2012, has been delayed again by the need to remove asbestos in the tube system. This asbestos removal work should only take up to 18 months, but TfL now don't expect to start cleaning tunnels until at least 2017. There is no urgency about this work to clean dust from the tubes that is harmful to human health. Will you push TfL to start the cleaning work within 18 months with no further delays?

• Reference: 2014/3023
• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 10 September 2014

Are you concerned that TfL’s current push to maximise revenue from its commercial assets could see hundreds of small, family-run businesses driven out of tube station kiosks and railway arches as big-name retailers are moved in when leases expire and platform plots are put up for sale at high prices?

• Reference: 2014/3024
• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 10 September 2014

In formulating this policy, has TfL set either a network-wide target or local targets for the proportion of businesses occupying its commercial spaces which will remain independent, family-run outfits as opposed to big name retailers?

• Reference: 2014/3025
• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 10 September 2014

Promoting a range of different types of businesses across TfL’s commercial spaces will improve the resilience of its own business model. Please give further details on the mix of retailers which TfL hopes to see occupy its commercial spaces.

• Reference: 2014/3026
• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 10 September 2014

Will TfL commit to providing opportunities for relocation where businesses occupying its commercial spaces find themselves priced out by rent increases or find themselves unable to purchase their plot if it is put up for sale by TfL?

• Reference: 2014/3027
• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 10 September 2014

The move towards turnover rents is a welcome example of innovation in TfL’s business model. However, has TfL analysed how this rent model could benefit some types of business – sole traders, for example – whilst proving ruinous to others, such as those with high turnovers but small profit margins?

• Reference: 2014/3028
• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 10 September 2014

In the Alperton Masterplan supplementary planning document, Brent council has committed to working with local businesses affected by developments in this growth area to explore relocation opportunities. In the same vein, what assistance is TfL offering to the news vendor at Alperton tube station whose kiosk will not feature in the redeveloped station?