Search questions

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

Now on the congestion charge we certainly supported you on the central zone and you also took up our idea of giving people an extra day to pay. What we are saying now is that the western extension does not work and if you go down to Portobello Road - which I did last week - I found that well over half of the traders have lost at least 20% of their business, some half their business, schools are closing and shops have already closed. Will you go down to Portobello Road to see the effect of the western extension...

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

But you put a lot more staff in there and you have not done that with the bendy buses.

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

I think it is very important. Londoners see people every day evading fares on bendy buses at a rate not far short of 10% on your calculations and there seems to be no proper programme to drive it down and no figures available. The first thing you need in order to try to manage a situation is to know how much money you are losing.

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

What are you doing to drive down this because it seems like it has been drifting for many years and it means that the travelling public are very upset because they then say, "Why should I pay when I see so few other people paying?"

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

How can you be driving it down if you do not have any figures for the last two or three years? I find that amazing.

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

Will you ensure that other post offices are not short changed in that way?

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

Are you aware that, worse than this, at least one main post office is effectively closed at the moment at least for the business of renewing Freedom Passes and that is the main post office at Enfield? It has told people to come back next Monday because TfL has not sent them the renewal forms or the Freedom Pass stickers.

• Question by: Geoff Pope
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

It certainly comes as a shock that 169 branches are going to be closed. I am not asking you to take those over but is it possible for your staff, using demographic data, to do your own equalities impact in order to show the impact this will have on poorer people?

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

Just a quick question about the building that you are talking about in Ealing. I have to say I do agree with what you say in this respect because I thought it was an extremely ugly building. It has been nicknamed the Penny Whistle. But 700 odd flats there. You did not mention the effect that that would have on the local infrastructure. You have 700 odd new families in that area. What about the schools, the hospitals, the doctors, the dentists and the transport; all of that will be affected and there is no provision in those plans to...

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 12 March 2008

Mr Mayor, the Assembly has no power anyway. You know that better than anybody else. The only power that the Assembly has is to amend your Budget if we have a two-thirds majority and that is hard to achieve. If we were here 24 hours a day we still could not hold you to account, we still could not scrutinise what goes on effectively so that is not the issue. It is not the issue that Assembly Members have other jobs elsewhere. The issue is that when we want to scrutinise something we get the information at the last minute...