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• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Do you know, I am flabbergasted by this, Deputy Mayor. You have just told us that these low-energy bulbs are in fact a transitional thing, because LED bulbs are going to come in which are going to be efficient, but at the same time your publicity has told us that these light bulbs are going to have a very long life. Clearly it is quite pointless that they should have a long life if something more permanent is going to come along. It is a bit like somebody trying to sell me a Betamax video recorder! The whole thing is...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

One final thing on this; I believe the whole thing is completely ludicrous. This refers to DIY Planet Repairs. Whenever we switch on any of the computers in this building a big thing comes up with an exclamation mark saying `DIY Planet Repairs'; utterly meaningless. I can well understand why there is an exclamation mark there; this has cost the Council Tax payers of London more than £1.25 million! Can you point to any `DIY Planet Repair' which the Mayor and this campaign have actually achieved?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Of the 30,000 a year that you are predicting?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

Mr Watts, that is not actually true. In the Mayor's press release ' which I suppose in this case is Nicky's press release ' a 63% take-up was predicted, which is four million. Your figure bears no relationship to the press release and the fact that you only made available this tiny number of light bulbs suggests that there was never any truth in the matter at all.

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 16 January 2008

It's very interested to hear you say that all of this is supposed to encourage people to take up these things. The total number of people who have actually taken up the insulation grants so far is barely 3,000 homes of the 30,000. The thing you principally have been trumpeting to make Londoners aware of how they can cut carbon issues has related to the exchange of light bulbs. Now the Mayor in his press release predicted that there was going to be a 60% take up of London's population of that; that is around four million people. I wonder...

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Thinking about evacuation, I am sure you will agree it is important that the extent to which people are educated in advance of the crisis about what is expected of them will help in the management at the time. Looking at the Preparing for Emergencies booklet, which has been mentioned, that has three generic bullet points on this issue, and if you compare that with what is available to New Yorkers, in terms of a very detailed guide, with evacuation there absolutely, all sorts of things, down to what to do with your pets, which I am sure is a...

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

Bob Neill (AM): I am sure that is right. It is a shame that GOL are not here so that we could have heard it be said. Brian Coleman (Chair): Indeed, we wish Mr Kowalczyk was here, so we could pay tribute to him this morning, but unfortunately he is not. I am sure, however, his spies are in the audience somewhere. Can I just ask, Mr Mayer, are you saying we need, in your professional opinion as an officer ' or 'mere bureaucrat,' as you describe yourself ' that we need an office of emergency planning in London?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

Let me share your optimism and your confidence ' which I think I do, really ' for what would happen in, say, the first 48 hours, when we deal with the immediate crisis. What I would like to probe is what happens after the first, say, 48 hours, when we really are getting into the recovery period, when it is, perhaps, less of a crisis and more of an emergency. Who is going to be taking charge then? What is the role of the Mayor and the GLA, and what are the roles of the individual London boroughs? Who is...

• Question by: Richard Barnes
• Meeting date: 08 December 2004

I would have thought that within minutes it would have been obvious even to the most lowly of Londoners whether an issue was of a major catastrophe or just a local incident, so I am surprised that it is going to take 48 hours to determine who takes the lead, because as soon as something happens, in less than 48 seconds, CNN and Sky will want to be there, and they will be taking the lead. Therefore, who actually is going to fill that gap whilst you are hauling in chief executives from Essex or Hertfordshire, as I know where...

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

An important part of what we want to try to achieve is to reassure Londoners that proper procedures are in place. What reassurance is there? What can I say to my constituency as to who is in charge at the moment for planning a) for resilience, b) for recovery? Secondly, who is providing the money for those, and where is it going?