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• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Just going back to one of my bugbears since the ricin in Wood Green, when the local chair of the Health Trust, the local chief executive, and I think the local head of the Fire Service were not aware of the ricin incident until two days afterwards. Are you satisfied that in terms of a health issue, the communications are now infallible?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Just a very quick question. You mentioned a gas attack down, sir, the Tube network, like with Sarin. Do you have the necessary equipment to go down and administer help underground, and the necessary breathing apparatus to last long enough to be effective? For instance, if they do not last half an hour, you will only have about 15 minutes or so down there.

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

I wonder if you might just draw down a little bit and say is your planning based on a sector response. Listening to you, yes, you have all this equipment, but we are just used to seeing fire engines moving from A to B. How would you respond to a sector? Are you saying that you have enough equipment and resources within a given sector, and so that that would, in itself, support a catastrophic incident in that sector?

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

A lot of your learning came about after 9/11. Have you been around the table with your New York colleagues recently? I am just trying to get a sense of whether the equipment we have bought since 9/11 is really state-of-the-art. Is that something for the next two years, or should we be finding ways of working with people from Spain, New York, more so, because clearly, things move on in other worlds?

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Last night in my constituency there was a major meeting because of concerns of movement of ordinary engines. What can you say to Londoners today in terms of your readiness from your service and working in collaboration with colleagues. Are you ready?

• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Surely you have learnt from that exercise and tested, and what did you use at that exercise, because you are saying ' in answer to question 363/2004 ' you are waiting for more equipment. What is happening now?

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Another area which could well be a target is the Tube system, and one of the things I have not really picked up is the extent of London Underground Limited's (LUL's) involvement in London Resilience. Could you just inform us, at least, of what kind of discussions you have had on that front?

• Question by: Bob Blackman
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Philip Selwood added:

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

I will direct my comments to Roy Bishop. You can well appreciate the residents of central London are particularly concerned, because the likelihood of a catastrophic incident will be that it is one of the landmarks of central London, so I welcome your response. Do your comments also cover the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea? Also, there is another issue in central London - the closure of Manchester Square. Can you confirm to me that that would not adversely affect the LFB's capability of dealing with a catastrophic incident in central London?

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Philip Selwood added: