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• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 13 November 2002

And how much have you received?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 13 November 2002

I'm delighted to report, Chair, that the gunners across the river haven't quite found their range yet! My question is about education, because clearly if we're going to avoid the construction of incinerators, we need to change people's mind in London. And there is quite a lot of good on the ground work in individual boroughs, but there is a London-wide responsibility for an education campaign. Can Mr Duffy tell me what steps he's taking to ensure that's the most effective campaign that's possible?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 13 November 2002

I don't intentionally want to fill the time, but I find those rather inadequate answers, and I put it to Mr Duffy that a problem with this was that the bids were rather inadequate and didn't show the sort of vision and leadership that London should be showing on waste minimisation and on education. A couple of sound-bites is not itself enough. It's got to be joined up with the boroughs. It's got to be an effective, driven campaign, with leadership from London. Do you think that London is offering the leadership on this that it should be?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 14 November 2001

But clearly you are a policy advisor and clearly the legislation does allow you to hide behind confidentiality, which I do respect with some reluctance, but there is in theory a position where - I don't want incinerators in East London by the way - where the evidence base suggests that the health concerns are not as well founded as people might think and yet the political context is one in which they remain unacceptable. How would you manage that as a waste advisor?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 14 November 2001

I want to go back to the beginning of your presentation and I wanted to understand the context in which we're listening to you, because you are the Mayor's spokesman and therefore what you say is the Mayor's view, but on the other hand you made it clear that you're a policy advisor to the Mayor which implies that there are occasions where you have advised him and he has chosen not to accept your advice. First of all, has there been any such occasion and can you imagine that occurring?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 14 November 2001

So is it fair then to say that you have a different view from him on incineration?

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 14 November 2001

It seems to me that public participation is fundamental to achieving, for example, recycling targets and we'll go into that figure in a minute. So how are you going to work with the boroughs and other groups to publicise the benefits of recycling and motivate the public to participate?

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 14 November 2001

Concentrating on financial incentives, which is something you mention in the strategy, is probably not what I think would be the best way forward. It seems to me that it would be helpful if the use of community and voluntary groups were encouraged. For example, I know in Suffolk they've started a composting scheme, a very little group who do very useful things and form part of what you're saying is the alternative. If there were enough little groups doing enough alternatives then the incineration or the presumption against might be presumed a bit quicker. What I'm saying is, what...

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 14 November 2001

To be honest you seem a bit hazy on it as if it hasn't really grabbed hold of you yet as an idea. So when are you going to come back with that as a proposal to the chair of the Environment Committee?

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 14 November 2001

I am sure the chair of the Environment Committee will give you a lot of help. Can I move on now to what I'd see as - it has been touched on - the poverty of ambition in terms of the recycling targets? Did they lack ambition? Was it really because you were scared of the response from the boroughs or you thought you would put them into too difficult a position? Or did you not think it might be better to take a lead on this issue which is very difficult? And also the other thing I want to...