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• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 05 June 2013

Murad Qureshi (AM): Can I be bold enough, Tony, to ask you things that you have not really touched on in your report? The first is mansion taxes. Our sister city New York has a 0.5% mansion tax for properties over $2 million. Do you see a place for something similar if it was hypothecated to build social housing, for example?

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 24 October 2012

Murad Qureshi (AM): I just want to briefly go back to land valuation taxation if you don't mind, given Roger's [Roger Evans AM] comments. I hear what you are saying about local planning concerns that have to be addressed by local authorities, I hear what you say about anything being proposed having to be national and not just London, but you would accept that it would discourage land banking and a fair amount of empty sites? Forget empty properties, there are major sites lying empty. Would it not encourage those being moved on at least and the promotion of jobs...

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

Finally, given that you have milestones and key milestones and a set date to achieve it, would it not have been better to have set up bonus payments rather than contingency sums, given that is going to be the name of the game - getting to key stages at key times at critical points? Clearly we would rather be giving them money for achieving that, rather than spending their time making those claims, which invariably half the building trade does.

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

Sir Roy, if we accept the Government figures as the upper limits to the expenditure on the Olympics, I think the key thing is the management of the contingencies. I am worried that we find ourselves in contracts with contractors who then spend most of their time making claims for the contingencies. They are very generous; about 60% of the build costs. I have certainly had that experience of managing projects myself. What do you have lined up in the procurement arrangements with contractors which make sure they focus and achieve the milestones, rather than putting in the estimators to...

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

You have mentioned the Cabinet Committees that are keeping an eye on this. Surely the building contract and the legality of that will supersede anything that they can decide about which contingency sums can be drawn from or not.