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• Question by: Florence Eshalomi MP
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Florence Eshalomi AM: Good morning, Deputy Mayor. You may be aware that one of the things the Government was supposed to announce in the Autumn Statement was the whole announcement around the buy-as-you-go thought to help more people get on to the housing ladder. Do you think that would help in addressing the London housing crisis?

• Question by: Florence Eshalomi MP
• Meeting date: 06 July 2016

Florence Eshalomi AM: Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning to you, Commissioner, and Mr Mayor. I just wanted to go back to some of the points raised by Assembly Member Bailey in terms of the night Tube. The first two lines are coming in in less than six weeks from today, and I am very happy that one of them will be going through my constituency, the Victoria line. I just wanted to go back to some of the points that you raised, Commissioner, in terms of the impact of the 24-hour licence, and this is an issue that has...

• Question by: Fiona Twycross
• Meeting date: 02 December 2015

Fiona Twycross AM: I wanted to correct the impression that was given that the way it has been operating at the moment has been simply about opposition Members [on LFEPA] getting at the Mayor. The fact is that the Mayor has insisted on managing by Direction even when there has not been an impasse, including on issues over which there has been cross‑party agreement by LFEPA Members. I just wondered if you could focus a little bit on what impact the Mayor’s insistence on management by Direction has had. To be honest, we have had Directions on all sorts of...

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 02 December 2015

Richard Tracey AM: Chairman, probably this is one for you as the politician of the two of you. The fact is, surely, that government, particularly local government, has been changing very considerably over recent years. That is accepted. The straight point to you: is it not correct that perhaps LFEPA in its current form is out of date and past its sell‑by date, really?

• Question by: Fiona Twycross
• Meeting date: 02 December 2015

Fiona Twycross AM: We obviously have to make sensible use of resources in the face of cuts. Some of the new technology that could come online is really interesting and will offer exciting possibilities, but do you agree with the Londoner who contacted me yesterday to say that £283,000 for a website rebuild is bordering on scandalous?

• Reference: 2013/0005-1
• Question by: Stephen Knight
• Meeting date: 13 March 2013

What do you perceive will be the impact on London of housing related welfare reforms - including linking the uprating of Local Housing Allowance to the Consumer Price Index rather than rent inflation and introducing under-occupation penalties - given London's existing shortages of affordable rented accommodation and overcrowding problems?

• Reference: 2013/0006-1
• Question by: Fiona Twycross
• Meeting date: 13 March 2013

London is about to experience the largest change to the welfare system since the 1940's, due to take effect on 1 April. These changes include the overall benefit cap, uprating Local Housing Allowance by CPI, bedroom tax (under-occupancy penalties), localisation of the discretionary social fund, localisation of council tax benefit, and replacement of Disability Allowance with the Personal Independence Payment. Can you provide a very general picture of the impact these changes will have on the people of London?

• Reference: 2013/0007-1
• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 13 March 2013

There have already been many significant and cross-cutting changes to the welfare system, and there are even bigger changes planned for the coming year. Is there adequate monitoring and publicly available information about the cumulative impacts on Londoners, councils and support agencies?

• Reference: 2013/0008-1
• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 13 March 2013

The 'bedroom tax' will result in an immediate cut in Housing Benefit of 14% for those deemed to have one extra bedroom and 25% for two or more extra bedrooms. However, the extent to which such penalties will make a difference is questionable, as there is a significant mismatch between under-occupying and over-occupying households - with 80,000 households in London under-occupancy, against 260,000 over-crowded households. Will the bedroom tax help address overcrowding in London in any substantive way, and what impact do you believe it will have on established communities and social cohesion in the capital?

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 13 March 2013

I want to follow up from Stephen Knight's questioning on the CPI. Perhaps I could ask Kate, because she did not get a chance to answer. Have I got it right that the CPI is going to mean that rents are now going to be tagged to the CPI, rather than to rent inflation? Further, as the CPI has always risen at a much lower rate than rents, the 30th percentile which the LHA is tagged to will drop to perhaps 20th or 10th percentile available? Have I got this right?