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• Question by: Stephen Knight
• Meeting date: 24 October 2012

Stephen Knight (AM): To pick you up on the point you have just made around the high property values in London, compared, I believe with most other developed countries, we have very few property and wealth taxes in this country; we predominantly focus on income and sales taxes. I just wondered to what extent you think the high cost of housing in London is partly driven by the fact that it is a tax free growth area for people, by which I mean it is a tax free investment and therefore that has partly driven the speculation that has driven...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 24 October 2012

Goodness me. I think this is a very worthwhile debate although it may seem a bit arid to some observers and we need to make sure we do not get too academic about it. Would you agree with me that around the world probably the single greatest source of income for city governments tends to be, in one shape or form, from properties? You have said a couple of times now that property taxes are so visible and so potent that virtually all political parties play 'chicken' with each other. Well, the opposite of 'chicken'; they are scared to look...

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 24 October 2012

Nicky Gavron (AM): While we are on land and talking about the planning system, currently the Assembly's Planning Committee is looking at the community infrastructure levy (CIL). That is, to a certain extent, a fixed charge, although there are lots of complications because it is set different in different boroughs and there is not necessarily a duty to cooperate and so on. On top of that is the Mayor's own CIL. I was wondering, this CIL is for Crossrail, but is the Commission going to look beyond that to the way CIL might be used by the Mayor in the...

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 24 October 2012

In the same spirit, how far are you going to frame for the Mayor any of the mechanisms he might be thinking about for the comprehensive spending review for London?

• Reference: 2007/0029-1
• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 13 June 2007

What is the purpose of the Consultancy Agreement between TfL and Bob Kiley and how does it offer value for money?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

That is very welcome. Will you actually write that into the contracts, and has it already been written into those contracts that have already been let?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

Again, will there be independent monitoring, as I mentioned earlier with the sustainability issues, of contracts, compliance, and such like to ensure that it does happen, and it is actually delivered?

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

Local committees under the ODA, did you say earlier?

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

Is there a declared date for that to happen, or is this going to be a gradual process? We have already heard that the position over the land acquisition is not completely clear and is in a process of negotiation.

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 08 September 2005

Would you not agree that we have five layers of bureaucracy already in this structure chart that we have seen? That is before some of these organisations come into being. There is also a tremendous amount of confusion ' certainly in our minds ' as to what these various different bodies are going to do. It therefore suggests that it is going to be difficult, if not impossible, for this Assembly to properly scrutinise this work. The suggestion is very clear that the attempt is being made to obscure the whole thing, so that if and when anything goes wrong...