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• Reference: 2010/0072-1
• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 21 July 2010

How do you see the relationship between your department and the Mayor's office differing from that under the previous government and what prospect do you see for greater devolution to the Mayor and Assembly?

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 21 July 2010

Minister, you have talked about devolution to the boroughs as a whole. Recently I read the suggestion by a former Parliamentary colleague, Rob Hayward [former Member of Parliament for Kingswood], that perhaps there are too many London boroughs; currently there are 32, and some of them are rather small. He said that he had been an advisor to the Secretary of State when he was in the Shadow Cabinet. Are you aware that your Department might be looking at reducing the number of London boroughs?

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 21 July 2010

We are really talking about the Mayor's wants. Are there Government wants? You have outlined the Government vision around devolution and on the NHS strategic functions that are being taken back into Government and obviously Ministers will want to take stock. Is there not a case that some of those strategic aspects carried out by the Strategic Health Authority for London should not come under the Mayor's ambit? Is there any thinking about that going on in Government at this stage, or if not at this stage, at some stage in the future?

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 21 July 2010

One historically controversial area has been the sale of school playing fields by local authorities for development. What sort of controls are you going to keep over that because the public do have some very strong feelings about it?