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• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Will you just confirm, for the record, that I passed on a casework complaint to you, Manny, in 2005 regarding the Green Badge Taxi School and we had a considerable amount of correspondence; and that as a result there was an external audit commissioned of the organisation and the grant that was given? In response to that, you called in external legal advice and you sent a copy of that to me finally in April 2007, and at that time I felt that you had dealt with the complaint as thoroughly as could be done at the time.

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

Yes, I think it has been consequent on the Licensing Act that has given an opportunity to reduce the administration, so that is very helpful. The other small glitch we had is that there was a planning application, you might not have a note on this, from Capel Manor. Although that horticultural facility was supported during the master planning process by Bromley, there has been the small local planning application which has subsequently gone in, and has been turned down by Bromley. I certainly want to see that resolved. Are you committed to getting that resolved and keeping Capel Manor...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

Well, thank you very much for that very clear commitment. I have to say that the project is extremely popular and there have been two very good consultations in the area, which have raised expectations. The fact that there have been these glitches has caused concern, because nobody in the area wants to see the LDA walking away, because clearly it is a big and difficult project and the community groups in the area have put in a lot of time and effort. Indeed, they are meeting the Mayor this morning about the project. As I said, there have been...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

Thank you very much. I am pleased for that, because in fact the animal farm there, the petting zoo, which is part of this project, was the single most popular feature in the park that people wanted to see reopened. It was one of the things that made the park a children's park. Andrew Pelling AM: I was very grateful, Chair, for a letter I received from the Chief Executive a month ago reassuring me that the LDA remains very committed to ensuring the best regeneration of this park, although I am still a little bit disconcerted that in many...

• Reference: 2006/0211-1
• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

The decision by Sport England not to fund the replacement of the Sports centre, and the block placed by English Partnerships on demolishing the existing Sports Centre has had a profound effect on the phasing and outcomes of this project - will you restate your proposals in summary for the public record and re-iterate your commitment to restoring and regenerating the park?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

I think you used the phrase `extremely excluded', and I would be interested to hear what disaggregated information there is about the people in poverty that we are talking about, because my experience has been that there are some people in our communities, some communities in fact, which are so extremely poor and excluded that I am not sure that the state is even capable of inter-meshing with the levels of poverty that they are experiencing. For example, there are members of the Somalian community in London, of whom probably more than 75% are unemployed, who cannot afford to dress...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

So, do you think that there is much more potential for the faith sector to address problems, and help the most extremely poor communities to move on, if they had more support from the state.

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 19 July 2006

I concur with your experience, Bishop, about the work of faith groups within the community, and I have seen some excellent, proactive work done by faith groups. However, there does seem to me to be a gap, and I wonder if my anecdotal experience is confirmed by your broader experience, that even some of the most energetic and creative churches, and, indeed, mosques, where they are falling over themselves with political visitors, nonetheless find that, when it comes to cutting the deal, and getting some cash resources from the local state, or the state generally, the resource isn't coming into...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 07 December 2005

We all want a successful Games and obviously we all want an efficient and value-for-money Games, so can I just ask you a little bit more about the financial control processes and the auditing, at two levels? Firstly, as I understand it ' and correct me if I am wrong ' the precept that the GLA will be collecting towards the Olympic project, possibly up to £600 million, and that would be financially accounted for by the GLA's Finance department. Can you tell us a bit more about how deep that accountability will be and whether or not there is...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 17 March 2004

I think we all appreciate that the LDA is making its financial allocations according to strategy, but you have already mentioned this morning that sometimes there is an element of demand and you have to pick up the pieces, and I think we are all grateful for the help at Crystal Palace. There is a particularly fragile local regeneration project at Streatham, which is a complex project, as you are probably aware. There is great concern that either this project may not come off or that there may be a long and, in our view, horrendous gap in the provision...