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• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

I am very grateful for Mr Biggs mentioning Croydon and Sutton, and I will just briefly touch on that in the limited time that I have. Recently the Department for Work and Pensions came up with figures for Croydon Central Parliamentary Constituency. It is 14th in terms of number of lone parents who are on income support, so there is a very real need to recognise the importance of investing in this area in terms of social deprivation. But my question is actually about the question which Mr Biggs has down about the economic development impact. I would declare an...

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

But to paraphrase what you said, Paul, it is suggested to me that we will not see any extra facilities, as a result of having training facilities here. All we will see is maybe some improvements to existing facilities.

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

Can I turn to Lord Coe and thank him also for the work that he has done in West London, and visiting the school where I am a governor, the Harefield Academy. Clearly, that is a sports academy which is very much tied into this spirit and ethos of what we want to achieve through the Olympic Games. Are you picking up that same spirit and ethos across London? Are schools getting tied in as strongly as they should, because quite honestly the sporting legacy is those athletes that we know now that will probably be competing in 2012, and...

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

Lord Coe, you have gone on record as saying that the Olympics is not about budgets and additional infrastructure, it is about ambition and legacy. How is the current row over the budget for the main Olympic Stadium actually having an effect on the legacy, for example, for the main Olympic Stadium?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

Do you understand the concerns raised by the Culture Select Committee in the House of Commons about the need to make sure that the uncertainty over the financing package and the final budget is resolved as soon as possible, precisely so we do not get the distractions that could get in the way of delivering the legacy that Lord Coe was talking about when I listened to him at the French Chamber of Commerce, for example, recently? What can we do, as an Assembly, to support the House of Commons Select Committee in pushing for some finality so we can...

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

Well, the report suggests that the requirement for legacy, ie reducing the capacity of the stadium, is driving the increasing costs. And I think that is a terribly important issue --

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

Reports are saying that the main contractor is coming back and saying that the cost of the Olympic Stadium has doubled. Can you confirm that?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

I am sorry to interrupt, Neale, but I do not dispute any of that. Remember, I supported the LDA's intervention on that. What I want to know is what role is it going to play in the Olympics?

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

One of the areas, of course, that you refer to, and I think we can build on, is providing training facilities for teams coming to the Olympics. They need first rate facilities, but could be built all over London and therefore be a lasting legacy for Londoners, be they from the west or east, north or south, to participate in sport later. Can you give us a guarantee about what the plan is for rolling that out?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 15 February 2007

Since the LDA owns Crystal Palace, in effect, now, it has taken the lease, is it going to be putting it forward? I would just like a bit more specificity about what role it is going to play. You can make it happen. The LDA can put Crystal Palace forward as a training camp or a preparation camp. Are they going to?