Search questions

• Reference: 2016/4973
• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

What do you see as the greatest issues/challenges facing London?

• Question by: Florence Eshalomi MP
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Florence Eshalomi AM: It is great to see you here as a London Member of Parliament (MP) for Croydon, not too far from my constituency in Lambeth and Southwark. One of the main issues that has been on your agenda and I am sure in your inbox as well has been the issue around Southern Rail. In the run-up to the mayoral election, quite a number of the candidates committed to looking at further rail devolution in London and it is right to say that it is something that has worked quite well with London Overground. Given that there is...

• Question by: Tony Devenish
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Tony Devenish AM: Minister, thank you very much for the £3.15 billion. If we listened to the Mayor, we would think he had written the cheque rather than you, but we do appreciate the cheque that came from you. One of my concerns is the lack of actual detail we have had from the Mayor on how he is going to deliver the 90,000 affordable houses and the rest of his commitments. Are you looking for more detail from the Mayor in due course to make sure he delivers? You have given him the money. He now needs to get...

• Question by: Tom Copley
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Tom Copley AM: Good morning, Minister. Thank you for being here today. I listened with interest to your exchange with Assembly Member Devenish. It feels to me like your predecessor in the previous Government seemed to put all his eggs in the Starter Homes basket and in the affordable homeownership basket. What you seem to have said by saying that there is no silver bullet is perhaps that that was not the right approach. Do you and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) support a full range of tenures and affordable tenures for London and does that include...

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Len Duvall AM: I would like to return to the issue about rail privatisation and the issues around that. Can I thank you for your earlier statement in saying that you would come back before us? We are very grateful. We know that you do not have to and we look forward to further opportunities to pose questions to you on topical issues. In terms of the transport announcements made yesterday and the links with the wider issues around economic performance, would you agree that the issues in Kent and London coincide? We all want the best for the rail...

• Question by: Siân Berry
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Sian Berry AM: I want to go back to housing again but also just to ask about public land and alternatives to selling it off. The new Mayor and TfL have made the positive decision to focus more of their public land on joint ventures and long-term rental homes, which will help to deliver the homes London needs and will create a long-term revenue stream, rather than selling them off. I recently visited Holloway Prison, which is owned by the Ministry of Justice and has great potential for this. Do you agree that this approach of not selling off land...

• Question by: David Kurten
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

David Kurten AM: Thank you, Minister, for coming. If I may, I would like to ask a few questions on education in London. I understand from the Autumn Statement that adult education is going to be devolved to City Hall in the financial year 2019/20. What do you see as the potential benefits and potential pitfalls of that move

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Nicky Gavron AM: Minister, good morning. I wanted to ask you a question about permitted development rights, which allow a change of use from offices and other workspaces now to residential without going through the planning system. Everyone around this horseshoe agrees that we need more affordable housing and we need more housing generally, but we also desperately need affordable workspace. Change of use is offering a windfall in terms of upping value to property owners and to developers. What we are seeing in London is that rents are going up and, in many cases, land prices are going up...

• Question by: Andrew Dismore
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Andrew Dismore AM: Could I go back to rail devolution? In the Evening Standard today there is a letter from Chris Grayling [MP, Secretary of State for Transport] to Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson wrote to Mr Grayling supporting the idea of rail devolution. The letter says this: “Thank you for your letter of 17 April about the possibility of TfL taking on responsibility for a number [of] rail services in the London area, but outside the Greater London boundary. While I am generally a great supporter of what you are doing in London, I would not be in favour of...