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• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

I appreciate that the widely used definition of the poverty line is 60% of the median income. How was that originally arrived at, and is that an absolutely fixed definition?

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

No, no, indeed, because I think that is an important point, because I think that in the mindset of the public it is confusing when you hear that x percent of people in London are technically living at or below the poverty line. I wondered if that definition would still be applicable if the median income rose considerably in London. One might feel that the definition was less, then, to do with poverty. I suppose I am asking you: are we talking about relative poverty as opposed to absolute poverty?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

Bishop, I wonder if you think that the function of the church ought to be more proactive? Things you have just been talking about; advice groups and playgroups and all of that kind of thing, is that that people all come to you, ought you not to be going to the people?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

Is being more effective you going out and knocking on people's doors, saying: `You are poor. You need help from us. You need our charity'?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

Isn't that precisely the point that I have been making: that you are sitting there waiting for the poor to come to you, rather than' Brian Coleman (Chairman): I do not quite think that that is what the Bishop said at all, Mr Arbour, to intervene on his behalf. The Bishop can explain himself.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

One of the things that you have not really talked about in your answers is that while we bandy around this expression, `learning and skills', nobody actually defines precisely what skills are actually going to do the trick, and help deliver some of the solutions. Am I right in thinking that one of the skills that we need to put much more focus on, if we are going to get more people into work and skilled up, is language in this city of ours. The question - really for Mr Faulkner - is whether he finds that languages do provide...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 06 April 2005

Therefore you are actually putting it up to help fill a deficit. ... To balance the books. As the penalty revenue falls you are predicting a deficit.

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 06 April 2005

Staying on the subject of revenue from Congestion Charging - is not the problem for TfL that they foresee a huge drop in the amount of revenue from Congestion Charging as people learn to manoeuvre themselves through the rather Byzantine payment system, whereby you will be getting less penalty money? Is not the whole point of jacking it up from £5 to £8 actually to make a start on filling the deficit that TfL has actually prophesied itself?

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 06 April 2005

What about the public inquiry the ALG has called for, a cross-party call to you?

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 06 April 2005

Can I ask about one other aspect? Recently, there was a call from the Association of London Government (ALG), a cross-party call, for a pause in this whole rolling out of the Congestion Charge westwards, and to allow for a public inquiry to take place, not least because we understand, and you yourself went on record to say that some very interesting trial work was being done on tag and beacon. Would it not be better to pause before you put all these cameras in and have a public inquiry to look at where we are on this whole issue?