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• Question by: Caroline Pidgeon
• Meeting date: 02 July 2020

Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM: My questions are to start off with to John O’Brien. I want to ask about support for businesses in London, with a particular focus on the restaurant industry. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, as of July last year there were nearly 16,000 restaurants in London employing around 325,000 people. Clearly, the sector has been hit very hard by COVID-19. Data showed in March, before the pandemic had fully hit, that 71% more food and accommodation businesses closed this March than they had in the previous March. John, I wonder if you could...

• Question by: Caroline Pidgeon
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM: I would like to question you about a specific part of the Mayor’s manifesto that stated that the Mayor would “make sure Londoners get a fair deal from developers”. Profits of large building firms have exploded by more than 500% in the last six years and many local authorities simply have not been able to negotiate enough affordable housing with developers over recent years. One of the issues is the expertise and this whole industry around viability assessments when experts work for the boroughs one day and then for developers the next. Can you explain how...