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• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Bob Neill (AM): I am sure that is right. It is a shame that GOL are not here so that we could have heard it be said. Brian Coleman (Chair): Indeed, we wish Mr Kowalczyk was here, so we could pay tribute to him this morning, but unfortunately he is not. I am sure, however, his spies are in the audience somewhere. Can I just ask, Mr Mayer, are you saying we need, in your professional opinion as an officer ' or 'mere bureaucrat,' as you describe yourself ' that we need an office of emergency planning in London?

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

I would have thought that within minutes it would have been obvious even to the most lowly of Londoners whether an issue was of a major catastrophe or just a local incident, so I am surprised that it is going to take 48 hours to determine who takes the lead, because as soon as something happens, in less than 48 seconds, CNN and Sky will want to be there, and they will be taking the lead. Therefore, who actually is going to fill that gap whilst you are hauling in chief executives from Essex or Hertfordshire, as I know where...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

An important part of what we want to try to achieve is to reassure Londoners that proper procedures are in place. What reassurance is there? What can I say to my constituency as to who is in charge at the moment for planning a) for resilience, b) for recovery? Secondly, who is providing the money for those, and where is it going?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Is that the answer to all the questions? The whole lot? At the moment, we have a scenario where the boroughs have some emergency planning, civil defence, old-fashioned-type powers. LFEPA has some powers. The other emergency services have a smattering of powers. Are you satisfied, Mr Mayer, that we have an accountable form of joining those together, or do we have a reassurance gap, as far as London is concerned? It may be being done by Nick Raynsford, but how do we assure Londoners that it is being'?

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Have you had regular meetings with the 2012 group to formulate your 12th Theme?

• Reference: 2004/0413-1
• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

What contingency planning is taking place for the purposes of London's Olympic Games?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

The comments about Crystal Palace are welcome, but perhaps the Mayor would deal with this: do you not understand that residents of Bromley and Bexley feel aggrieved? Although safeguarding of Crystal Palace is good, they are likely to receive very little direct benefit in legacy terms, but are expected to contribute through their council tax for a number of years, whereas residents of areas outside London, which may have Olympic sites as firm parts of the bid, are not expected to contribute. What means could be achieved to seek greater equity for the residents of Bexley and Bromley on that...

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

I just wanted to move on to some of the lessons learnt with the Paralympics and the Olympic Games themselves, because it became a bit, in Athens, of shall we say "after the Lord Mayor's show." That was very unfortunate, I think, given the high levels of competitors and the great interest there is in the UK in the Paralympics. Therefore, has any thought been given either to moving the Paralympics to be held before the main Olympic Games, or to go back to where we were and to integrate the two sets of Games, so that they are part...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

I am sorry I just must comment on that, because we hear you saying that all the time about every type of finance, that the Government would not dare not give you the money, Mr Mayor, and time and time again, the Government does indeed dare not to give you the money. Therefore, I do not think that is necessarily a comfort for us to hear that from you now, and I think it is leaving it far too late, by the way, to address the overspend issue next summer when we may have already won the bid. Londoners, if...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

I would just point out, since the Mayor raised it, that of course the Congestion Charge is not making anything like the money that TfL originally predicted. My third question is about the lottery game that is being set up specifically to fund the Olympics. One way, surely, that we might have been able to help Londoners a little more with their bills would have been if you had fought harder, Mr Mayor - and perhaps you still can; I am hoping that this could still be rectified - to dissuade, shall I say, Gordon Brown from lifting 12 pence...