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• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

My question follows on from what Tony Arbour and Bob Blackman were saying. You said that you have interviewed existing staff but you have not interviewed staff who no longer work for the organisation, one of whom, Maxine Jones, also made some allegations. There were two whistleblowers: Brenda Stern and Maxine Jones. You have said, 'The review has found that this allegation is incorrect'. In order to reach that conclusion it would seem to me that you would have to talk to both of those two people.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

My question follows on from what Tony Arbour and Bob Blackman were saying. You said that you have interviewed existing staff but you have not interviewed staff who no longer work for the organisation, one of whom, Maxine Jones, also made some allegations. There were two whistleblowers: Brenda Stern and Maxine Jones. You have said, 'The review has found that this allegation is incorrect'. In order to reach that conclusion it would seem to me that you would have to talk to both of those two people.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 10 November 2007

Yes, you are absolutely right. London generates an enormous amount of wealth - according to the London Chamber of Commerce about £13 - £20 billion - which is then taken by the Government and used to subsidise the rest of the country, if not Scotland. We can certainly do with more money. As far as Crossrail is concerned, the Mayor has said that is probably the most important project, even more important than the Olympics. Nevertheless, the Government still found themselves with a shortfall of over £300 million and turned to the City to stump up yet more money in...

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

My question is to Manny Lewis really. I want to ask you. What is your plan B, regarding the Manor Gardens Allotments? Because the architects clearly overlooked them in the original plan, Waltham Forest do not want them, and I would now like to know what you intend to do.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

Extension of Carnival? So, the Carnival happens in Notting Hill and you have your extension in Hyde Park, and according to your website `We work to present a powerful, consistent and relevant image of London as a vibrant place to live, study, visit and do business' and that is what the Caribbean Showcase does?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

Thank you. It says on the LDA's website that the LDA's objectives are regenerating London, supporting people, that is removing barriers to employment, encouraging business, and marketing and promoting London. Yet you spent £215,000, approximately 70 per cent of the cost of the Caribbean Showcase, putting it on in Hyde Park on the same day as the Notting Hill Carnival. That does not seem to add up and make sense to me.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

Well, I would have thought that the purpose of the LDA was to provide London with jobs and economic development. Personally, I do not really see the rationale for spending so much money which could have been directed elsewhere, to jobs for young people, whatever, on the Caribbean Showcase, when the Notting Hill Carnival was going on at the same time. I cannot make that connection, I am afraid. I just think that it is extraordinary that you should spend the money in this way.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

That equates to a very neat and tidy solution. You move the allotment holders off to Marsh Lane for a period of approximately seven years, I understand, and then you move them back to another site approximately close to where they are now. Unfortunately it is not going to work terribly well because it takes over seven years to establish a new allotment site. Frankly, if the plot holder is going to be facing two moves within seven years, a lot of them will simply give up. Perhaps the diehards will carry on, but I do not see that this...

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

May I put something to you? Here is a quotation from the Olympics designers, `What makes architecture exciting is the ultimate connection with everyday life, communities, topographies, things that are already there. We talk about growing rather than deploying projects. This comes out of an interest in discovering, experimenting rather than producing or perfecting what we know'. That is Farshad Masali, the Olympic designer. Now a little bit of out of the box thinking could surely do something. What you are proposing is, levelling the land, reducing it by eight metres and building a concrete path, a massive great concrete...

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

That plan has not yet been approved, I understand, in Waltham Forest.