Written Answers to questions not answered at Mayor’s Question Time on 24 February 2010

Supporting community-led development Question No: 633 / 2010 Jenny Jones How do you support organised local communities such as the London Citizens Community Land Trust consortium who wish to lead on developing affordable housing schemes in their area? Oral response given

Housing Question No: 714 / 2010 Nicky Gavron How do your Draft London Plan Opportunity Areas impact on your housing policies and targets? Oral response given

Metropolitan Police Budget Question No: 881 / 2010 Dee Doocey How will your cuts to the Metropolitan Police budget affect front line policing? Oral response given

Blackwall Tunnel Question No: 377 / 2010 Gareth Bacon With over 2,200 vehicles using the Blackwall Tunnel every hour in each direction, east and south east London are at risk of being brought to a standstill by plans to cordon off half of the Tunnel in each direction during the 2012 Olympic Games. Will you oppose these plans and ensure that they are never implemented? Oral response given

Bridges and River Crossings Question No: 712 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Have you, as Simon Jenkins alleges, declared war on South London?

1 Oral response given

PPP Contracts Question No: 474 / 2010 Richard Tracey What mistakes did the Government make in drawing up the PPP contracts for London Underground’s upgrade? Oral response given

LFEPA Question No: 713 / 2010 Len Duvall Is the reputation of LFEPA causing damage to London Government? Oral response given

Anti-Semitic Incidents (1) Question No: 429 / 2010 Brian Coleman Does the Mayor share my concern about the 460 reported anti-Semitic incidents that took place in London in 2009, an increase of 95% over the past year, including 48 incidents of assault? What is being done by the GLA and Metropolitan Police to tackle anti-Semitic behaviour and protect members of the Jewish community from attacks? Oral response given

London Enriched Question No: 366 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook Does the Mayor believe that the large amounts of London Taxpayers’ money being utilised to support his and the former Mayor’s initiative “London Enriched” is a signal to refugees everywhere that London in particular is the home of milk and honey and exacerbates the arrival of thousands more refugees to Calais hoping eventually to get to London and access these perceived riches? Oral response given

Out of Hours Care Question No: 394 / 2010 James Cleverly Following the report that there is only 1 GP covering the whole of Bromley at night, are you concerned that the inadequate provision of Out of Hours Care is contributing to health inequalities in the capital? Oral response given

2 Manifesto Commitments Question No: 708 / 2010 John Biggs Should Londoners hold you to your Manifesto commitments?

Answer provided on 8 March 2010: Of course Londoners should hold me accountable. In just over two years – if I stand again – the voters can give their verdict on whether I have made London safer, cleaner, greener, easier and more convenient to get around, maintained our competitiveness - despite the Labour government’s unilateral, politically inspired vandalism – and continued our advance as the Greatest Big City in the World.

What I would say is that we are well on track with our manifesto, have made a great start but there’s always work to do.

Crystal Palace FC Question No: 874 / 2010 Steve O’Connell The Mayor will be aware that Crystal Palace FC has recently entered administration. Bearing in mind that as well being an iconic partner in the borough, it is a key employer in an area of deprivation, would the Mayor wish to comment? Would he also wish to offer any comfort to those employees and to the thousands of palace fans who face a future without their beloved club? Oral response given

Extension of Oyster to National Rail services Question No: 601 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Do you think it was right of Peter Hendy to say in his Commissioner’s report to the TfL Board on the 3rd February that the “extension of Oyster to National Rail services in London went without a hitch?” Oral response given

Congestion Charge Exemptions (1) Question No: 436 / 2010 Tony Arbour Which organisations or individuals are entitled to receive exemptions to the Congestion Charge? Oral response given

Draft Municipal Waste Strategy Question No: 520 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey The 2015 target for recycling or composting municipal waste has fallen from 67% by 2015 to 45%. Does this reflect more the failure of your predecessor’s strategy or your strategy’s lack of

3 ambition? (Waste Strategy 2003 compared to the Draft Municipal Waste Strategy 2010) Oral response given

Oxford Street (1) Question No: 450 / 2010 Victoria Borwick Does the Mayor agree with the Transport Committee, the New West End Company, Selfridges, M&S and others that the pace of change for reducing the congestion in Oxford Street should be increased? Oral response given

Budget Question No: 710 / 2010 Len Duvall Can the Mayor tell us what aspects of his budget were discussed with the London Congress at their last meeting? Answer from the Mayor: No aspects of my Budget were discussed at the meeting of the London Congress on 3 September. It is not the forum for discussions on the Budget.

If you want an update on the Charter I am delighted to report that in the 10 months since the first meeting of the Congress work is progressing well. I look forward to updating you all on further progress following the next meeting of the Congress in June.

The budget was passed on 10 February following full consultation with the Assembly, boroughs and others

Olympic land and debt agreement (1) Question No: 403 / 2010 Andrew Boff What will be the impact on the LDA and its projects if it takes six months for an agreement to be reached on Olympic land and debt? Oral response given

Recycling in flats Question No: 642 / 2010 Jenny Jones How will you ensure that all Londoners, including the half living in flats, have easy access to adequate recycling and composting facilities? Answer from the Mayor: In the draft strategy I have given high priority to improving recycling overall in London and specifically to improve recycling from flats. I intend to improve Londoner’s access to recycling services, especially the inhabitants of flats, in two ways.

Firstly, I have asked the London Waste and Recycling Board to develop a programme of work

4 that will address some of the infrastructure barriers that are preventing flat dwellers from recycling. Achieving higher recycling performance in flats has proven to be a considerable challenge for London that must be addressed. The key to the success of this project will be London Borough involvement and London Waste and Recycling Board are currently in the process of pulling together a project working group, made up of boroughs, to develop the proposal.

Secondly, through Recycle for London, I will provide a series of communication and behavioural change activities supporting London boroughs that want to roll out new services or just educate Londoners about existing under-utilised services. Recycle for London officers are engaging with London Boroughs now to ascertain what exactly the boroughs want to see Recycle for London do for them, with the aim off signing of a final work programme for Recycle for London in April 2010.

There are some great pilots in different boroughs looking at tackling flat recycling and through both these mechanisms we can spread that best practice.

Recycling must be hassle-free for every Londoner regardless of the borough or home they live in. That is why it is important to understand how best to provide and promote accessible services accepting as many materials as possible for recycling to our diverse population and housing stock, and ensure these services are supported by appropriate infrastructure.

Burglary (2) Question No: 419 / 2010 Brian Coleman Will the Mayor list by ward the number of reported burglaries in the London Borough of Barnet for the last month for which figures are available and will he ask the Chairman of the MPA to take urgent action on the level of burglary in suburban boroughs? Answer from the Mayor: The MPS anticipated burglary could be a bigger problem over the last financial year as a result of the recession and Barnet has been one of the affected boroughs.

The MPS has responded with Operation Bumblebee. The Bumblebee taskforce (comprising 70- 80 officers) has been posted to Barnet to support and supplement local efforts. (See table in Appendix one)

There has been an increase in reported residential burglaries over the last year in Barnet, which continued to increase until October 2009. However, following the launch of Operation Bumblebee in October Barnet has now seen a 24% reduction over the last 3 months (Oct 2009- Jan2010). Please see the list attached as Appendix A.

Low Emission Zone Question No: 719 / 2010 Murad Qureshi I note from advice given to you in December 2008 that it is costing TfL an additional £600,000 to delay Phase III of the LEZ to 2012. How is this cost made up? Answer from the Mayor: The information provided to me in December 2008 by TfL estimated a cost of £600,000 for consulting on proposals to change Phase 3 of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ).

5 The actual cost of the forthcoming consultation to suspend Phase 3 of the LEZ is now expected to be much lower. In any case, the cost of consultation will be more than offset by efficiencies in the way that Phase 3 is now being implemented.

Thames Bridges Question No: 432 / 2010 Richard Tracey Is the Mayor happy that road works on the Thames bridges in London are being sufficiently co- ordinated? Answer from the Mayor: I am never happy when road works cause delays. However, contrary to local press reports last week, I can confirm that TfL worked closely with London Boroughs to plan and coordinate these works. TfL did not permit the simultaneous closure of five Thames crossings. Whilst work was undertaken at Albert, Hammersmith, Southwark and Waterloo bridges, as well as the Blackwall tunnel, only two of these involved full closures (Hammersmith and Albert). Only the works on Albert Bridge extended beyond the half-term week. Other on-going works involve only lane restrictions, weekend or night-time working. Of the 16 crossings between Hammersmith and Blackwall, only 2 now have work with any impact at all on peak traffic flows.

Action to mitigate the impact of these works by TfL and the relevant Boroughs is borne out by the latest traffic reports. Apart from some increase in queue lengths on the approach to Battersea Bridge, and delays associated with a traffic signal failure on the morning of 16 February, there have been no abnormal delays as a result of any of these works.

The fact that so much of this work has been carried out either during half term week (when traffic is typically 10-15% lower than normal), overnight or at weekends, and that TfL has ensured no adjacent crossings are affected at the same time, is illustrative of good planning to minimise disruption.

USA Day Question No: 720 / 2010 Len Duvall Given your commitment to providing value for money, will you be calling on the USA Embassy to fund your forthcoming USA Day, using the monies they have saved through non-payment of Congestion Charge? Answer from the Mayor: My Events for London team is seeking to work with a range of partners in regards to the delivery of a USA event and season in the Autumn. Sponsorship opportunities will be sought to support this event and the US Embassy have been consulted on the proposals. There are, however, no plans to link the non-payment of congestion charge fees to the organisation of cultural activities, and this matter is being separately pursued through other avenues.

Construction works disruption Question No: 721 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross I have unfortunately had a number of complaints over recent months about building contractors working on development sites behaving in an inconsiderate manner to local residents.

6 Complaints range from noisy work taking place outside the hours specified in the planning permission to construction vehicles blocking access roads. Although enforcement of these matters clearly lies with the boroughs, as Mayor of London, will you consider putting in place a London-wide good practice code for contractors and borough planning departments to try and improve consistency on planning enforcement issues? Answer from the Mayor: I would agree that in a city with a great deal of construction activity, nearby areas require effective mitigation of associated traffic, noise, dust and other emissions.

There is in fact already a substantial body of guidance on how to do this. At strategic level alone my draft replacement London Plan already signposts the Mayor and London Councils’ Best Practice Guidance on control of dust and emissions during demolition and construction. The draft Plan also provides more specific policy support in addressing noise, air quality and sustainable design and construction issues.

The Air Quality and Noise Strategies provide further detail. The London Plan Sustainable Design and Construction Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) effectively codifies all these to inform its ‘essential’ and ‘preferred’ standards and the LDA provides more specific guidance for development on its own land.

Together these amount to weighty strategic guidance to complement and support what are often rigorous local ‘considerate contractor’ codes. If I can add further value in tackling this problem I am of course happy to work with all stakeholders to do so, but, as you say, enforcement of the guidance is essentially a matter for the boroughs.

381 bus Question No: 722 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross It is clear from TfL’s own figures that complaints from disabled passengers on route 381 have not reduced over recent years as they have on other routes. What measures are TfL planning to take to tackle this? Answer from the Mayor: As you are aware, all new bus drivers are required to gain a bus driver BTEC qualification within their first year of service. By the end of 2005, all existing drivers had gained the qualification. Disability awareness training has recently been refreshed in conjunction with the charity SCOPE.

In recent years there has never been less than 90% of drivers who have achieved the BTEC (the remainder will be in training) and therefore have attended the disability and diversity awareness training day. TfL has also produced a DVD training resource tool to assist operators deliver this aspect of the training.

Since September 2008, there has also been a requirement for all bus drivers to receive a minimum of seven hours refresher training each year, as part of the new EU ‘Driver CPC’ requirement.

TfL continues to expect all operators to ensure drivers exhibit high standards of service to all passengers, and they will raise any specific complaints about the 381 (or any other route) with the operator. Please bring any specific issues to Peter Hendy’s attention.

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Questions for Written Answer

Hate Crimes Question No: 367 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook Ben Kinsella, Robert Knox, Jimmy Mizen, Martin Dinnegan, Peter Woodham, Richard Whelan, Billy Ward and Billy Gregory to name but a few in recent times, were all murdered by individuals from ethnic communities. Do you share the concern of many Londoners that absolutely none of these killings have been designated ‘racist murders’ by the Metropolitan Police, and that double standards are being applied, bearing in mind that, in my view, an enormous guilt trip was imposed on British people after the Stephen Lawrence murder and the subsequent numerous investigations? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional response provided on 2 March 2010:

We must condemn all forms of violence as it affects all of London. * Global Warming (1) Question No: 368 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook After your attendance at the Copenhagen Climate change Summit, would you agree with the sentiments of EU spokesman Nick Griffin MEP when he asserts that in fact “the world is cooling” and global warming is a fraud? Answer from the Mayor: Clearly I don’t agree as I launched my two climate change strategies earlier this month.

* Global Warming (2) Question No: 369 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook With the climate change agenda badly discredited with false data combined with one of the coldest spells on record, is it time to abandon our obsession with carbon footprints and tackle the real environmental disaster affecting London, namely overpopulation? Answer from the Mayor: Please see my response to MQ368 / 2010.

Global Warming (3) Question No: 370 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook Would the Mayor agree that all his recent initiatives on water shortages, energy shortages, housing shortages and waste disposal problems actually point to London being populated beyond its means and is it not incumbent upon the Mayor to address that issue above all

8 others? Answer from the Mayor: The ‘shortages’ and ‘problems’ to which you refer cannot all be attributed to population. A range of factors bear on them including changes in technology, lifestyles, incomes, governance, climate and relationships with neighbouring regions.

My initiatives to address them have taken into account these factors as well as London’s changing population.

* Akmal Shaikh Question No: 371 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook Your answer to Brian Coleman in Mayor’s question no: 318/2010, has provoked a number of constituents to ask how you conclude that Akmal Shaikh is a Londoner bearing in mind he was born in Pakistan, lived in America for many years and moved to Poland in 2003? Is it now possible to be a Londoner without the need for being born in this fair city? Answer from the Mayor: Of course ones does not have to be born a Londoner to be one. London has a proud history of making people from all over the UK and the world Londoners.

* Notting Hill Carnival Question No: 372 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook What were the clean up costs in the aftermath of the Notting Hill Carnival for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009? Who pays the clean up costs in the aftermath of the Notting Hill Carnival? Answer from the Mayor: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and Westminster City Council (WCC) pay for cleaning their respective boroughs as their contribution of support for this international event.

RBKC’s costs were as follows: 2007/08 – £141,147 2008/09 - £151,699 2009/10 - £174,768

WCC’s costs are not specifically itemised within their cleansing contract, as it is part of an ‘all in’ service for special events, for which Carnival is only one activity.

* Sexual Violence Question No: 373 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook Is the Mayor taking any action in relation to the following report in “Safeguarding Children”: “A London Young Offenders Team has reported concerns about the number of young women who regard abusive behaviour from young men as a ‘normal’ part of adult relationships”?

9 Answer from the Mayor: My draft violence against women strategy, “The Way Forward: a Call for Action to End Violence Against Women” highlighted the attitudes and beliefs held by young people in relation to violence against women including rape being used as a weapon and young women being passed around as “sexual accessories”.

The resulting strategy and action plan, will contain a number of actions that address the concerns raised about young women.

My Advisor on Health and Youth opportunities, Pam Chesters chaired a roundtable event at City Hall in October 2009 to explore the specific issues facing young women/girls and to jointly develop solutions. Through this event, I have ensured that this issue is firmly on the agenda of London partner agencies and we will continue to work with a wide range of partners to take matters forward for London.

* Sexual Violence Question No: 374 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook Following the report in “Safeguarding Children”, in particular the shocking revelation that “nearly all the girls involved with gangs have been raped by male group members. Some senior gang members pass their girlfriends around to lower ranking members and sometimes to the whole group at the same time”, what action is the Mayor taking to protect these vulnerable young girls from this kind of sexual abuse? Answer from the Mayor: Please see my response to MQ373 / 2010. *

Sexual Violence (3) Question No: 375 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook Following the report in “Safeguarding Children”, in particular the shocking revelation that a Year 10 student was recently gang raped by some gang members, the girl and her mother are extremely frightened and when questioned the mother insisted it was consensual, what action is the Mayor taking to protect vulnerable girls exposed to this kind of sexual abuse? Answer from the Mayor: Please see my response to MQ373 / 2010.

* Positive Discrimination Question No: 376 / 2010 Richard Barnbrook In light of the disastrous Ali Dizaei fiasco, will the Mayor seek the abandonment of promotion in the public sector on grounds of race and gender and allow qualifications and probity to flourish once again become best practice? Does the Mayor believe that organisations run more effectively when promoting people on their abilities rather than promotion on the basis of meeting equality targets?

10 Answer from the Mayor: I believe that appointments should be made on merit. To do anything otherwise would be unlawful. However, I also believe that the public sector should have a workforce representative of the community it serves and that it should be representative at every level. This means that we should ensure we create an even playing field for every sector of the community – in applications, appointments and promotions to roles within public sector organisations.

* GLA re-branding Question No: 378 / 2010 Gareth Bacon What is the estimated total cost of rebranding London with the typeface already used by Visit London? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: The development of London's brand is a much more comprehensive exercise than just the development of a typeface, it involves the creation of a set of promotional messages which counter negative and outdated perceptions of the city. Following on from the international financial crisis - which has had a significant impact on London's international reputation - the Mayor has taken steps through the development of London's brand to seize the opportunity presented by the Olympics and ensure that the breadth of London's offer is communicated widely and comprehensively across many markets. The budget for this promotional initiative is £500k and as well as the creation of a unified voice and image for London include provision for activation of the brand in key international markets.

City Hall (1) Question No: 379 / 2010 Gareth Bacon Now that the 3rd floor of City Hall is empty, will the space be rented commercially and what sort of per desk and overall income can the GLA expect? Answer from the Mayor: The 3rd Floor will be made available to those organisations that are compatible with the aims and objectives of the GLA. At present it will not be marketed in the commercial property arena.

The space is being offered on a fully serviced, managed accommodation basis. Income will depend on the nature of the body sub-letting this space. If it is a body which is funded by the GLA then a low rent would be necessary in order to achieve a net saving off the bottom line. Ultimately we are seeking to secure best value for London’s council taxpayers.

The floor is currently home to the London Waste and Recycling Board, Mayor’s Fund and Home Retrofit Team, which represents about 19% of the available space. This is generating a contribution to the GLA of circa £181,000.

*

11 City Hall (2) Question No: 380 / 2010 Gareth Bacon Have the MPA and TravelWatch refused to rent the created space on the 3rd floor and if so, why? What reasons have they given for doing so? Answer from the Mayor: The MPA have confirmed that they will not be moving to City Hall as they have been able to negotiate a good deal on their current accommodation and the location near to New Scotland Yard better suits their business needs.

Discussions have taken place with Travel Watch and long term the possibility of moving to City Hall is being considered, along with other options. However, their current lease does not have a break clause until 2012 and no final decision has been made.

* City Hall (3) Question No: 381 / 2010 Gareth Bacon Considering the MPA are a functional body of the GLA and TravelWatch are overseen by the Assembly, can the GLA enforce their move to City Hall in order to save taxpayers money on extra unnecessary rental? Answer from the Mayor: The GLA does not have the power of direction over the MPA. However, the MPA have considered the option of moving to City Hall and have decided that their current offices near to New Scotland Yard offer the best accommodation solution for them.

Travel Watch can be directed by the GLA. And their on-going accommodation requirements and structure is under review by the Secretariat. However, as noted in the response to MQ380/2010 they do not have a break clause in their current lease until 2012. *

Energy Supply Question No: 382 / 2010 Gareth Bacon Does the Mayor agree that the approaching crisis in the UK’s energy supply forecasted in Ofgem’s Project Discovery report, published on 3rd February, which could lead to increases in energy bills of up to 25% by 2020, is the result of a lack of Government action or investment in energy infrastructure in the past decade? What is being done in London to reduce the likelihood and effect of a potential energy crisis, and to ensure that the lights are kept on in London? Answer from the Mayor: I agree that further action by the Government is needed to address the risks of future energy price increases along the lines of Ofgem’s Project Discovery report. As set out in the Draft Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy, I agree with those recommendations made by the Committee on Climate Change regarding the need for greater ambition in moving to a low carbon electricity supply for the UK.

Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective way to balance the UK’s energy supply and demands, particularly in light of the looming energy crisis. This is why we are making our homes and buildings retrofit programmes a major priority for London. However, appropriate funding and policy support remains to be delivered by central Government.

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We also have a commitment to supply 25 percent of London’s energy from local, decentralised energy sources by 2025. A large portion of this will be renewable energy, some based on waste and biomass sourced within London. This will greatly improve London’s energy resilience.

Specifically, Action 34 of the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy indicates how I will work with the Distribution Network Operators and energy retailers in London to ensure resilient electricity distribution in London.

Feed-in Tariffs Question No: 383 / 2010 Gareth Bacon Does the Mayor agree that the low level proposed by the Government for its long-awaited feed- in tariffs is disappointing, and what impact will this have on the Mayor’s efforts to promote renewable energy in London? Answer from the Mayor: I fully welcome the introduction of the long awaited feed in tariff system in the UK. The tariffs set in the scheme are lower than those in the German system, and therefore are unlikely to return the level of renewable energy deployment seen there. Renewables need to play a key role in de-carbonising London’s buildings in particular, since 70% of London’s homes are ‘hard to treat’ and many of the basic energy efficiency measures, supported under programmes such as the Carbon Emission Reduction Target, cannot be applied to them.

* Responsible Procurement Question No: 384 / 2010 Gareth Bacon Wherever possible, will the Mayor publish on the DataStore website details of all GLA contracts awarded under the Responsible Procurement process, including the value of these contracts and details of the competing bids that were rejected? Answer from the Mayor: There is no distinct Responsible Procurement process. Responsible procurement principles are incorporated into the procurement process where appropriate and relevant. They are of course incorporated in such a way that is proportional to the subject matter of the contract. It is not the GLA’s (or TfL’s) approach to reject tenders solely on the ground of their responsible procurement content, but on the basis of suppliers not meeting the quality and technical requirements outlined in the specification.

* NHS London Question No: 385 / 2010 James Cleverly Would the Mayor welcome the inclusion of NHS London within the GLA family or of the PCT’s being accountable to London government for scrutiny? Answer from the Mayor: Currently NHS policy is determined nationally and operational service decisions are taken at local organisational level Within this context I do not see significant advantages in NHS London

13 being part of the GLA Group. If that situation changes, I will of course consider the merits of any option that facilitates a continued improvement in services for Londoners.

On the question of scrutiny, PCTs are already accountable to their local borough scrutiny committee. It would appear somewhat bureaucratic to ask them to be accountable to a second scrutiny process. I am aware that where the PCTs have been looking at pan London issues London Councils have come together to form a Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee which I understand has operated effectively. *

London Ambulance Service Question No: 386 / 2010 James Cleverly Would the Mayor welcome the inclusion of the LAS as one of the functional bodies? This would improve emergency planning and allow for better public scrutiny of a service vital to London. Answer from the Mayor: The London Ambulance Service should remain part of the NHS where it plays a crucial and valued role in patients’ pathways to appropriate emergency and acute services. It is already well embedded in emergency planning structures, and has previously been subject to effective London-wide scrutiny in negotiation with the boroughs. *

Shatter proof glasses (1) Question No: 387 / 2010 James Cleverly Are figures available for how many glass attacks there are in London each year? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 2 March 2010: The number of glass attacks in London each year which are attributable to either the direct or indirect use of a glass drinking vessel is not a figure which is recorded. This is due to the manner in which crimes are reported. This would require the individual examination of every allegation in or in the vicinity of a licensed premises.

However, figures are available, from the London Ambulance Service on the broader category of ‘assault by laceration’ – with the ability to make year on year comparisons.

Shatter proof glasses (2) Question No: 388 / 2010 James Cleverly Is there anything that the GLA can do to promote the use of the new shatter proof glasses to bars and the hospitality industry in London to try and reduce the number of glass attacks? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

14 Additional information provided on 2 March 2010: Through the Greater London Alcohol and Drug Alliance and other partners, I will be working to support boroughs and local agencies to assess the issues faced at local venues where violence is recognised as a problem, and identify where the provision of ‘safer glasses’ can play an important part in reducing injuries and increasing safety. The new shatter proof glasses are not plastic, but use glass and resin to reduce the potential damage of broken glass. The designs are currently at the pilot stage.

Coach Parking Question No: 389 / 2010 James Cleverly In response to question 332/2010, you stated that a feasibility study is due to be completed into coach parking by early February. Please can you provide the conclusions of this feasibility study? Answer from the Mayor: The London Coach Voucher Scheme Study is in its final stages and a report is now due to be completed in March. Whilst preparing the draft report, some additional investigative work needed to be carried out, which was unforeseen and has caused a slight delay.

* Blackwall Tunnel (1) Question No: 390 / 2010 James Cleverly What did TfL do to publicise the closure of the northbound Blackwall Tunnel from Sun-Thurs (9pm-5am) for the next three years, and the change in the time of the routine maintenance closure of the Rotherhithe Tunnel? Answer from the Mayor: TfL took a number of steps:

• On 14 January a press release was issued locally, nationally and to the relevant trade media; • Key stakeholders briefed in writing on 14 January; • Providing a specific information page on the TfL website at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/14072.aspx; • Publicising the closure regime via Variable Message Signs on the road network. *

Blackwall Tunnel (2) Question No: 391 / 2010 James Cleverly Will the northbound Blackwall Tunnel be closed at night during the Olympics? Answer from the Mayor: The current restrictions on Southbound traffic from 9pm-5am Sunday to Thursday to allow for a major TfL maintenance project will be suspended during the Games.

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15 Blackwall Tunnel (3) Question No: 392 / 2010 James Cleverly Is it possible to carry out the routine maintenance of the Blackwall Tunnel during the planned closures on Sunday-Thursday evenings for the next three years, rather than adding an extra closure on Sunday mornings? Answer from the Mayor: Blackwall Tunnel has two tunnels; both northbound and southbound. Both tunnels require continuous routine maintenance. Each tunnel is closed on alternate Sunday mornings from 01:00 to 08:00. Therefore every Sunday morning there is a closure: one week for the northbound tunnel and one week for the southbound tunnel.

The refurbishment work to the northbound bore will cause the northbound tunnel to be closed overnight from 21:00 to 05:00 for five nights every week for the next three years (Sunday to Thursday nights).

TfL will endeavour to carry out as much maintenance work in the northbound tunnel as possible during the five nightly closures of the refurbishment work. However, there are some routine maintenance operations that cannot be carried out with other contractors working in the tunnel at the same time (i.e. washing of tunnel, testing and maintenance of lighting and dropping of flood gates to maintain and wash them). Equally, there will be times when the refurbishment work will require sole possession for the contractors to carry out their work safely, effectively and efficiently. Thus, there will still be a requirement to close the northbound tunnel on alternate Sunday mornings. The southbound tunnel will also continue to close on alternate Sunday mornings to allow its routine maintenance to be carried out. *

Safer Neighbourhood Teams Question No: 393 / 2010 James Cleverly In Bexley and Petts Wood and Knoll, Safer Neighbourhood Teams are visiting every household to listen to residents’ concerns on crime and anti-social behaviour. What measures are there to ensure that all Safer Neighbourhood Teams across London engage with their local community? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 2 March 2010: To ensure Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) conduct effective community engagement the MPS provide all Safer Neighbourhoods Staff with a 5 day training package that is based around a 7-stage model (Research, engagement, identify issues, analysis of issues, ward panels, problem solving and review).

Stages one and stage two concentrate on the development of a ward profile and comprehensive community engagement plan. Each Borough is required to update their ward profile and community engagement plan every 6 months. * Stadium legacy (1) Question No: 395 / 2010 Andrew Boff What would be the annual running cost of Olympic stadium if it remained an 80,000 seat venue

16 after the Games? Answer from the Mayor: The Olympic Park Legacy Company is putting in place a process which will allow appropriate uses for the stadium to be brought forward. The Company will then evaluate these uses against a set of criteria prior to the Company making recommendations to the Mayor and Ministers. This process will inform the Legacy Company of the optimum seating capacity for the stadium, preferred operating arrangements and annual operating costs and revenues. Until the process of determining the mix of uses within the Stadium is complete it is not possible to provide an estimate or final figure for the annual running costs.

* Stadium legacy (2) Question No: 396 / 2010 Andrew Boff What would be the annual running cost of Olympic stadium if it became a 25,000 seat venue after the Games? Answer from the Mayor: The Olympic Park Legacy Company is putting in place a process which will allow appropriate uses for the stadium to be brought forward. The Company will then evaluate these uses against a set of criteria prior to the Company making recommendations to the Mayor and Ministers. This process will inform the Legacy Company of the optimum seating capacity for the stadium, preferred operating arrangements and annual operating costs and revenues. Until the process of determining the mix of uses within the Stadium is complete it is not possible to provide an estimate or final figure for the annual running costs.

GLA and LDA Events (1) Question No: 397 / 2010 Andrew Boff For events that receive funding from the GLA or the LDA, please specify their expected outcomes that they are expected to produce beyond the staging of the event? Answer from the Mayor: All of the events within my Events for London programme that receive either GLA or LDA funding are subject to a Funding Agreement, with specified objectives and Milestones. Many of these are solely around the successful staging of the event, as this in itself would meet my wider objectives and policies (e.g. around celebrating main religious and cultural festivals, and promoting London as a visitor attraction). The Strategic Plan 2011-2012 details that stimulating a cultural and creative London is consistent with my pledge towards commissioning a series of events in Trafalgar Square as well as cultural campaigns and festivals.

* GLA and LDA Events (2) Question No: 398 / 2010 Andrew Boff Which GLA and LDA funded events have failed to meet the outcomes expected of them and will they continue to be funded next year?

17 Answer from the Mayor: A decision on whether events receive funding is based on my key policies and priorities of that year, and there is no assumption that just because an event receives funding in one year, it will do so in the next. All event proposals are considered at the ‘Mayor’s Event Steering Group’ which is attended by my Deputy Mayor, Cultural Advisor and Marketing Director, prior to my formal approval being obtained via the auditable decision making process.

Events funded by the GLA/LDA have been consistently successful in delivering on their objectives, and there are very few examples where funding has been withdrawn. However, a specific example is Newroz in 2009, which had some funding withheld due to not fully meeting the expected outcomes. *

OPLC Question No: 399 / 2010 Andrew Boff How will the Olympic Park Legacy Company be funded over the next 10 years? Answer from the Mayor: The OPLC is currently preparing its first Corporate Plan, which will set out the Company’s funding position in the short to medium term and give high priority to the early development of a longer term financial strategy.

* Cultural Olympiad (1) Question No: 400 / 2010 Andrew Boff Please state how much funding has been confirmed for the Cultural Olympiad, and the sources of the funding? Answer from the Mayor: The latest total funding estimate for the Cultural Olympiad is between £70-£80m including resource in kind, with £70m cash confirmed as allocated so far. This is drawn from a range of sources, primarily from the Legacy Trust, the Olympic Lottery Distributor, the London 2012 Organising Committee, and the Arts Councils alongside confirmed private sponsorship. Most of the funding is hypothecated to specific programme strands.

* Cultural Olympiad (2) Question No: 401 / 2010 Andrew Boff Please state the Cultural Olympiad projects that have already been allocated funding, and the level of funding that each project will receive? Answer from the Mayor: The Cultural Olympiad projects that have been approved for funding are, Artists Taking the Lead (public art commissions with the Arts Councils), Stories of the World (learning programme led by the Museums, Libraries and Archives) and Unlimited (disability arts with the Arts Councils). The new Director of the Cultural Olympiad, Ruth Mackenzie, working to the Board of the Cultural Olympiad, chaired by Tony Hall, started in February and she will produce an updated timetable and revised budgets for the programme for the next two years by Autumn 2010.

18

LDA Question No: 402 / 2010 Andrew Boff If the Mayor considers that there was an attempt to conceal the £160 million shortfall in the Olympic land budget under the period of the last administration, will he report those responsible to the Metropolitan Police? Answer from the Mayor: There has been an independent investigation into this matter and, where appropriate, disciplinary action has been taken. The issue arose as a result of poor documentation and non- escalation of known overruns, as highlighted in the KPMG report entitled ‘Olympic Land Development – Findings and Recommendations,’ dated 08 September 2009, which has been shared with the London Assembly and is available on the LDA web site.

To date there is no evidence of any criminal conduct. In the event that new information were to come to light which indicated the possibility of this, appropriate action will be taken.

Olympic land and debt agreement (2) Question No: 404 / 2010 Andrew Boff If the LDA and Government cannot reach a funding agreement over the Olympic land and debt, will the functions of the OPLC be reincorporated into the LDA? What will happen to those who have been appointed to the roles of Chair and Chief Executive and to the OPLC Board? Answer from the Mayor: I am in discussion with Government about the transfer of LDA land to the OPLC, with a corresponding agreement for treatment of LDA debt associated with the land acquisition. Should it become clear no agreement can be reached, I will review the best options for legacy delivery in consultation with the LDA.

* Olympic Employees Question No: 405 / 2010 Andrew Boff How many of the 1009 employees on the Olympic site, who are resident in the 5 boroughs, obtained their job with assistance from the LDA’s Olympic Local Employment and Training Framework? Answer from the Mayor: The latest figures up to the end of December 2009 and released by the ODA in January this year show that 1,230 (20%) of workforce on the Olympic Park are residents of the 5 Host boroughs. Due to data protection and recording constraints, it is not possible to ascertain the exact number of these local residents who have directly obtained employment on the Olympic Park through the Local Employment and Training Framework (LETF).

However, since April 2008, nearly 400 local residents have been helped through LETF supported programmes to find employment on the Olympic Park; with a further 250 having been supported into non Olympic Park jobs related to the delivery of the 2012 Games. Through the direct intervention of a team consisting of the local boroughs, Job Centre Plus, the Learning and Skills Council and the ODA, supported by the LDA and established with funding from the LETF, over 65% of the vacancies obtained from contractors/sub-contractors on the Olympic Park have

19 been successfully filled with local residents, with a further 16% filled by unemployed Pan London residents.

Olympic Legacy (1) Question No: 406 / 2010 Andrew Boff Will you release the report provided by Capita Symonds to the LDA in July 2008 on the size of the budget shortfall for transforming the Olympic Aquatics Centre after the Games? Answer from the Mayor: As this work stream is subject to on going development and negotiations with other partners of the Olympic Park it remains commercially sensitive and therefore I am not prepared to release the report generally.

However, should any member of the Assembly wish to review the report in private, arrangements for this can be made subject to the appropriate confidentiality agreements being put in place.

* Olympic Legacy (2) Question No: 407 / 2010 Andrew Boff Are you confident that the £350million budget for converting Olympic venues into their legacy use after the Games is sufficient? Answer from the Mayor: The transformation budget is sufficient for the ODA to deliver its agreed post-Games transformation obligations.

* Olympic Legacy (3) Question No: 408 / 2010 Andrew Boff Does the £350million budget for converting Olympic venues after the Games contain any contingency? Answer from the Mayor: Yes.

Olympic Legacy (4) Question No: 409 / 2010 Andrew Boff Has the LDA decided whether it or the OPLC will perform the full contract due diligence task with the ODA on the transformation costs of the Olympic venues after the Games? Answer from the Mayor: The due diligence work on the ODA Olympic venues contracts is the subject of ongoing discussions between the LDA and OPLC in the context of the transfer of land and functions

20 between the two bodies. At present, it is anticipated that the substantive work will be carried out by OPLC following any transfer of functions over the next few months.

* Olympic funding Question No: 410 / 2010 Andrew Boff Why was the £17million increase in the costs related to the Olympic Village not foreseen in previous budgets? Answer from the Mayor: A forecast increase of £17million includes investments in the security arrangements for the Olympic Village site and legal and other fees incurred by the ODA and Triathlon Homes in the completion of the pre-sale agreement. The overall budget remains stable.

Olympic funding (2) Question No: 411 / 2010 Andrew Boff When will the cost of the ODA providing venue security and operating the Olympic Park between 2011-2012 be finalised? Answer from the Mayor: The ODA is preparing a full business case for this additional scope and will be working with GOE, LOCOG and the licensing authorities to determine the costs of these additional responsibilities. It is currently expected that this will be submitted later this year.

* Kitchens in the Olympic Village (1) Question No: 412 / 2010 Andrew Boff How many kitchens will be installed in the housing built as part of the Olympic Village following the completion of the Games? Answer from the Mayor: Kitchen units will be added to each of the 2,818 residential units in the Olympic Village after the Games. *

Kitchens in the Olympic Village (2) Question No: 413 / 2010 Andrew Boff How much will it cost to install kitchens in the housing built as part of the Olympic Village following the completion of the Games? Answer from the Mayor: Installation of the kitchens is included in the overall budget; no additional funds will be required.

*

21 Kitchens in the Olympic Village (3) Question No: 414 / 2010 Andrew Boff How many people would have not been accommodated by the Olympic Village had kitchens been installed in homes in the initial construction phase before the Games? Answer from the Mayor: It was never planed to install kitchens into the Olympic Village apartments before the Games. Doing so would prevent it being used as an Olympic Village, contravening the vision set out in the Candidate File.

* Olympic Village (1) Question No: 415 / 2010 Andrew Boff What is the cost of constructing the housing in the Olympic Village? Answer from the Mayor: The total development cost of the whole of the Olympic Village is £1.095 billion.

* Olympic Village (2) Question No: 416 / 2010 Andrew Boff What is the maximum amount of people that will be housed in the Olympic Village at any one time during the Games? Answer from the Mayor: Each National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee will confirm exact team numbers nearer to the Games, but as a working assumption the maximum number of all athletes and officials in the Villages will be 16,000.

* Bishop’s Place Question No: 417 / 2010 Andrew Boff Will the Mayor make available the financial viability statement which supported his approval of the Bishop’s Place development. Answer from the Mayor: Any financial viability information submitted in relation to referable planning applications is done so on a confidential basis as such information is considered to be highly commercially sensitive. The release of such financial viability information into the public domain would potentially harm competition in the development sector and on balance is not, therefore, in the public interest. On this basis, and following legal advice, I will not be releasing the financial viability assessment into the public domain.

*

22 Burglary (1) Question No: 418 / 2010 Brian Coleman Are you concerned about the level of residential burglary across London particularly in the suburban Boroughs and what recent discussions have you had with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner on the issue? Answer from the Mayor: The recent rise of residential burglary in outer suburban boroughs is of great concern. Recent steps are being taken by the MPS because this has already resulted in some reduction in the rise (from 10% down to 3.9%.)

A number of tactics have been applied, including Operation Bumblebee which was re-launched in October 2009.

* Burglary (3) Question No: 420 / 2010 Brian Coleman Does the Mayor think that part of the rise in the level of burglary in London is due to the number of companies now offering instant cash with no questions asked for gold items and what action does he suggest can be taken? Answer from the Mayor: I have been informed by the MPS that it is not possible to make a specific link between the rise in jewellery thefts and the number of “cash for gold” companies.

* Naming of Areas Question No: 421 / 2010 Brian Coleman Will you resist any attempts to rename or “re-brand” traditional and historic areas of my constituency such as Holborn and Bloomsbury as “Midtown”? Answer from the Mayor: While I support initiatives which enhance neighbourhood identity, a ‘one size fits all’ approach to naming areas may not be appropriate.

‘Midtown’ is not an attempt to re-brand the historic areas of your constituency. To the property industry, the term ‘Midtown’ has a distinct meaning, and refers broadly to the Central London office market area lying between the City and the West End. At the same time, I also recognise that Londoners relate to the names of historic areas such as Holborn and Bloomsbury, and my draft replacement London Plan recognises the distinct character and importance of such areas in Central London. *

Westminster Parking Charges Question No: 422 / 2010 Brian Coleman Would the Mayor agree that the City of Westminster’s plans to charge for parking on its roads until midnight are overly draconian, and would penalise hard-pressed motorists, increase

23 pressure on public transport and have a negative effect on London’s evening economy, especially for theatres and the West End? Answer from the Mayor: The review of parking controls in the City of Westminster has generated a great deal of attention and representations have been made to me regarding the potential impact of these proposals. The City of Westminster has emphasised to me that these ideas represent the beginning of a long term discussion. Clearly parking restrictions are a matter for the boroughs but I would expect all boroughs to take into account economic development when setting parking policy. *

Ambassadors (1) Question No: 423 / 2010 Brian Coleman Would the Mayor please list the Mayoral Ambassadors and the resources allocated to each of them? Answer from the Mayor: My Mayoral Ambassadors are:

Andrew Boff on cycling, Richard Tracy on river transport and Annie Lennox on HIV/AIDS.

They are all unpaid positions with no staff allocated.

* Ambassadors (2) Question No: 424 / 2010 Brian Coleman Could the Mayor describe the process by which Annie Lennox was appointed “Mayoral Ambassador” and outline her duties and her qualifications for the role? Answer from the Mayor: I was approached informally by Annie Lennox who offered to become HIV ambassador for London. My team then explored how such an arrangement might work with Annie and what the confines of the role would be. After carrying out due diligence to establish any conflicts of interest and Annie’s track record in this area I was delighted to accept her kind offer of support in this unpaid role.

Over the coming weeks we will firm up priorities and arrangements for raising awareness and tackling the unacceptable stigma and disadvantage still faced by people living with HIV. *

Gospel Oak Gun Crime Question No: 425 / 2010 Brian Coleman Is the Mayor concerned about the level of gun crime in the Gospel Oak ward of the London Borough of Camden? If so, what action does he propose? Answer from the Mayor: I am concerned about gun crime across all of London.

24 Gospel Oak ward has seen four non-fatal shootings in the last twelve months. Specialist Trident detectives have investigated each one, and there has been significant joint uniform and plain- clothes activity in response to these.

These offences, and their impact on both victims and communities, are treated very seriously. Gospel Oak Safer Neighbourhood Team led community meetings after each incident. Reassurance measures were introduced and long-term work is underway to address the wider issues (including home visits to those potentially at risk and involvement in community events). An extra PC has been added to the Gospel Oak Team, and four more PCs to the Police Youth Engagement Team. *

City Hall Business Lounge Question No: 426 / 2010 Brian Coleman What is the purpose of the ”business lounge” on the seventh floor of City Hall? Answer from the Mayor: The creation of business lounges, on the 2nd and 7th floors, is part of the wider accommodation strategy and provides multi-use, flexible space for staff that does not need to be booked. This takes people away from their usual work area and promotes a more informal and creative work environment.

* 931 High Road N12 Question No: 427 / 2010 Brian Coleman What date is it envisaged that the MPS will vacate the traffic garage at 931 High Road N12? Answer from the Mayor: The MPA has entered into a contract with St George Central London Limited, which includes this site. A planning application has been submitted regarding this location.

No date has yet been published for consideration of the application. Any vacation of 931 High Road will be dependent on the outcome of the planning application and the terms of the contract between MPA and St George, which remain commercially sensitive.

* Tree Commissioner Question No: 428 / 2010 Brian Coleman Does the Mayor consider there is merit in the idea promoted by the Heath and Old Hampstead Society of appointing a “Tree Commissioner” for London? Will the Mayor work with the voluntary sector on this proposal, which it is suggested could be achieved at no cost to the public purse? Answer from the Mayor: My Environment Advisor has discussed this idea with the Heath and Hampstead Society. London is lucky to already have a wide partnership of boroughs, charities, NGOs, government departments, schools and community groups currently working together to champion trees under the umbrella of the London Tree and Woodland Framework. Our main partner, the Forestry Commission, employs a dedicated officer to co-ordinate implementation of the

25 Framework. We will discuss with our partners how the role of a Tree Commissioner would add to the partnership and how realistic it is to try and achieve this with no cost to the public purse. Fee Free to discuss this Further with Isabel Dedring.

* Fan Zone in Regent’s Park (1) Question No: 430 / 2010 Brian Coleman Will the Mayor re-consider whether Regent’s Park, or any Royal Park, is the most appropriate place to host a month-long “Fan Zone” for 20,000 football fans during the World Cup this summer, including live and recorded music and the sale and consumption of alcohol on the premises? Has the Mayor considered alternative, more appropriate venues such as Wembley Stadium or one of the many other football stadiums in London? Answer from the Mayor: Officers from my Events for London team have assessed a number of locations at which it may be possible to stage a FIFA Fan Fest event during this year’s tournament.

The selection of such a venue needs to meet the requirements of FIFA in respect of an iconic and central location, with a minimum capacity of 20,000 people. Given that the event proposed is for a period of 3-weeks (11th June – 3rd July) whilst other park based venues were considered, it was felt that Regent’s Park met both FIFA’s venue requirements and did not have existing event commitments during this period.

London is of course blessed with many fine football stadia, however as the FIFA Fan Fest seeks to engage with a non-traditional family focussed audience and given the selection of venues in other world cities (Paris, Rio, Rome, Berlin, Sydney and Mexico City), football stadia were not considered appropriate venues for such an event. The length of the event would also make it impossible to make pitch improvements in advance of the 2010/11 football season and the many pre-season friendlies staged by clubs.

Wembley Stadium was also considered as a potential venue, however following dialogue with The FA it became clear that due to existing live music and other commercial considerations, Wembley Stadium would not be an appropriate venue in which to stage a FIFA Fan Fest in London.

I am therefore content, that prior to the Olympic Park becoming operational as a major events venue, Regent’s Park offers the most suitable venue in which to stage the event this summer.

Fan Zone in Regent’s Park (2) Question No: 431 / 2010 Brian Coleman What concerns have been expressed by the Metropolitan Police and Transport for London regarding the feasibility and public safety implications of holding a “Fan Zone” event at Regent’s Park for the World Cup this summer? What consultation has taken place with local residents concerning the proposed event? Answer from the Mayor: Officers in my Events for London team are having continuing dialogue with Transport for London in respect of the FIFA Fan Fest proposal for Regent’s Park. A public transport plan is currently in development by TfL and will be presented to Camden Council in advance of the Premises Licence hearing.

26 On-going dialogue is also continuing with the Metropolitan Police, both with the Public Order Planning and Football Intelligence Teams at New Scotland Yard and with the Camden Borough Commander. The Police have made constructive independent representation in respect of the Premises Licence application to Camden Council, and once received GLA Officers and the appointed event delivery partner will, where appropriate and practical incorporate such comments into our event delivery plan in advance of the Premises Licence hearing.

Local residents have been consulted during the planning of this event as stipulated by statutory measures required by the 2003 Licensing Act. Officers have also met with and have an on- going dialogue with, the Friends of Regent’s Park and other key stakeholders to ensure that concerns are both noted and incorporated into our proposed operating procedures for the event. *

Potholes Question No: 433 / 2010 Brian Coleman What cost is estimated by Transport for London for repairing potholes on its roads that have arisen from the recent weather conditions? Will the Mayor ensure that these works are completed as soon as possible? Answer from the Mayor: TfL’s Highway Maintenance contractors inspect the Transport for London Road Network on a regular basis as part of our routine inspection and maintenance regime. Any potholes that are identified as posing a risk to the travelling public are made safe or repaired, with the most serious rectified in under an hour. The remainder are addressed within either 7 or 28 days (depending on severity). A total of 3590 minor carriageway defects (which includes potholes and other carriageway defects such as cracking and damage to anti-skid surfacing) have been identified since December 2009, of which 1205 were high priority and have been repaired. The cost of this service, even if resulting from severe weather occurrences, is a contractually fixed amount.

The remaining 2385 defects will be programmed for repair on a priority basis over the coming weeks/months.

* Gospel Oak Substation Question No: 434 / 2010 Brian Coleman On numerous occasions, Camden councillors and officers have complained to Network Rail over reoccurring graffiti at a disused substation in Gospel Oak ward, which is blighting the local area. Would the Mayor and Transport for London use their influence to persuade Network Rail to either demolish the substation or improve security arrangements to prevent the graffiti from taking place? Would the Mayor also agree that Network Rail should improve day-to-day communication channels for local authorities, so that they have a direct access number and a named contact whom they can deal with to resolve local issues? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: I raised this issue when I recently met Iain Coucher, Chief Executive of Network Rail, and reminded him of the need to combat graffiti, and of the accord with London Councils on this. I

27 will write to Network Rail on this issue, will suggest that Local Authorities are given a named contact for local issues, and copy that letter to London Councils.

* Transport for London Question No: 435 / 2010 Tony Arbour Should TfL be sponsoring an event that showcases the achievements of a single political party, such as Richmond’s Annual Reception by the Council leader and Cabinet which was funded by TfL’s ‘Smarter Travel’ funding? Answer from the Mayor: TfL should not sponsor party political events and has not done so.

The event in Richmond to which you refer has been run for a number of years by the Council as a way of communicating with key stakeholders. TfL’s contribution (£1,200) was to allow the borough to invite a wider range of stakeholders than would normally be the case in order to further promote ‘Smarter Travel’ initiatives. These include encouraging more trips by cycling, walking or by public transport. The event was not party political in nature and was of benefit in bringing TfL into contact with a range of key stakeholders, including senior representatives of local business, education, the public sector (e.g. Primary Care Trust) and local community groups.

This method of direct engagement with key stakeholders provided a much more cost effective approach than arranging 1-2-1 meetings, and ensured an opportunity to speak direct with the decision makers of the relevant organisations.

* Congestion Charge Exemptions (2) Question No: 437 / 2010 Tony Arbour Would you consider providing an exemption to the Congestion Charge for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) vehicles when they are responding to an emergency? Answer from the Mayor: There is currently an exemption from the charge for lifeboat haulage and HM Coast Guard vehicles. Lifeboat vehicles which are registered with the DVLA as exempt from vehicle excise duty are also exempt from the charge.

* Light bulbs (1) Question No: 438 / 2010 Tony Arbour Why does TfL replace all light bulbs (working and non-working) in Underground stations after a set period of time, rather than waiting for the bulbs to stop working? Answer from the Mayor: London Underground replaces light bulbs on all below ground stations after a set period of time as it is more cost effective to do a mass change rather than one at a time. It is also better for customer safety as there is less chance of several bulbs failing at the same time.

28 On surface stations, bulbs are replaced depending on their condition and how dirty the lamps are. Low energy and / or long-life lamps are used wherever practicable.

* Light bulbs (2) Question No: 439 / 2010 Tony Arbour How long do TfL leave light bulbs in operation in Underground station before automatically replacing them? Answer from the Mayor: London Underground replaces light bulbs on all below ground stations between 18 and 24 months.

* Academies (1) Question No: 440 / 2010 Tony Arbour What is the role of the Mayor’s Academy Trust and what direct influence will it have over individual academies sponsored by the LDA? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: Alongside its core education partner, the proposed Mayor’s Academies Trust Company as a sponsor will appoint Directors and representatives to the governing body of each Academy in line with its remit for employability and skills. The Academy governing body will be responsible for the effective governance of the Academy, including matters such as staffing, finance, curriculum and performance. It will report regularly to the Mayor’s Academies Trust Company.*

Academies (2) Question No: 441 / 2010 Tony Arbour Who will sit on the Mayor’s Academy Trust and how will they be appointed? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: The Mayor’s Academies Trust Company is proposed as having 2 founding members – the LDA and the Mayor as its Patron. Members are required to appoint Directors to run the Trust Company. It is currently envisaged that the LDA will appoint up to 5 Directors and the Mayor, as Patron, will appoint 1 Director. The process for appointing Directors is currently being decided. * Academies (3) Question No: 442 / 2010 Tony Arbour What will be the role of the Mayor and the LDA in the Mayor’s Academy Trust?

29 Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: The Mayor will be the Patron of the Mayor’s Academy Trust Company and, as such, one of two founding members – the second being the LDA. As founding members, both parties are required to appoint Directors to run the company on their behalf. *

Plastic Bag Free Campaign Question No: 443 / 2010 Tony Arbour Will the Mayor give his full backing to the Greener upon Thames, Plastic Bag Free Campaign and commend Greener Kew for their efforts in achieving this in Richmond upon Thames? Answer from the Mayor: I am very supportive of the Greener upon Thames, Plastic Bag Free Campaign and commend Greener Kew for their efforts in achieving this. My environment advisor has been in touch with them already to discuss the campaign and see how we might work together on this important issue. I want to see more campaigns such as these where local people take the initiative, make a stand for the things they believe in and own the challenges that we all face in this modern world. I look forward to hearing how this campaign progresses.

* Sri Saddhatissa International Buddist Centre Bus Stop Question No: 444 / 2010 Victoria Borwick The centre has experienced significant problems with people gathering at the bus stop and throwing objects at the Sri Saddhatissa International Buddist Centre in Kingsbury Road. What measures could be put in place to stop this from taking place? Answer from the Mayor: TfL was alerted to difficulties at this bus stop in early 2009, and discussed potential solutions with the Metropolitan Police Service and the London Borough of Brent. Since then, the Metropolitan Police Service has made clear that this bus shelter has not been used as ‘cover’ for a series of attacks on the temple.

TfL's Crime & Disorder Partnership Unit, which is a specialist team in the field of crime reduction, assessed the stop and shelter in August 2009 and concluded that the shelter is not a primary factor in the attacks made on the Temple. The local Safer Neighbourhood Team has also been working closely with the Temple to improve security. The London Borough of Brent has also installed CCTV to monitor the gates to the temple, as well as passengers waiting at the stop.

* Sri Saddhatissa International Buddist Centre Bus Stop Question No: 445 / 2010 Victoria Borwick If no alternative measure can be found, would the Mayor instruct TfL to move the bus stop?

30 Answer from the Mayor: Please refer to my answer to MQ444/ 2010. The stop is well used by visitors to the temple and by other passengers.

* ORN vehicles Question No: 446 / 2010 Victoria Borwick Would the Mayor provide a list of all the vehicles that will be allowed to use the Olympic Route Network? Answer from the Mayor: LOCOG is working with the ODA to scope out the vehicle requirements to best serve the athletes, officials, media and others working at the Games. BMW will provide approximately 4,000 vehicles, and LOCOG is now working with BMW on the models required. Other vehicles that will have access include buses for athletes, broadcast trucks and support vehicles for sport and games operations.

* ORN Question No: 447 / 2010 Victoria Borwick Taking into account the 4,000 cars provided by BMW, the expected 3,000 or so coaches, all the Olympic sponsors, and the motorcades for visiting dignitaries, how many vehicles are you expecting to use the ORN? Answer from the Mayor: LOCOG is developing the requirements of the athletes, officials, media and others working at the Games to ascertain the demand for transport, and will work with the ODA when the numbers are known to ensure the best operation of the ORN.

* Olympic vehicles Question No: 448 / 2010 Victoria Borwick Would you clarify whether the official cars to be used as Olympic vehicles, the Minis provided by BMW, will be disability compliant? Answer from the Mayor: LOCOG is working through the requirements of each client group, including the Paralympic Family. All vehicles, including the small number of MINIs, will comply with relevant legislation and BMW will provide some vehicles that will be especially adapted for disabled drivers. The ODA has just announced First Group as preferred bidder to provide hundreds of buses and coaches to transport spectators, all of which will be disability-compliant.

* Picnics at the Olympics Question No: 449 / 2010 Victoria Borwick Will the Mayor confirm that visitors will be able to bring their own picnics into the Olympics grounds so that they can watch the Olympics from the inside the Olympic village on the giant

31 screens, so that even if they do not have a seat they will be able to access the Olympic park and watch the Games? Answer from the Mayor: It is currently expected that spectators will be able to bring reasonable amounts of food and drink into the Olympic Park for their own consumption.

* Penalty charges (1) Question No: 451 / 2010 Victoria Borwick In answer to the earlier question (No: 358 / 2010) it was revealed that during 2009, TfL issued 155,466 penalty charges for CCTV parking contraventions and received £8,709,456 in charges. Please will you provide a breakdown of the boroughs in which the fines were issued? Answer from the Mayor: The table attached as Appendix B sets out the boroughs in which TfL has issued CCTV penalty charges on the TLRN for CCTV parking contraventions in 2009.

* Penalty charges (2) Question No: 452 / 2010 Victoria Borwick How many CCTV penalty charges issued were issued by TfL in each of the five years prior to 2009? And what percentage of the annual total did CCTV issued penalty charges constitute? Answer from the Mayor: The table below shows the number of PCNs issued by TfL between 2004 and 2008.

Note - enforcement of on-street PCNs transferred to TfL control in November 2004.

Note - this data includes all CCTV penalties, that is, for bus lane, moving and parking contraventions.

Percentage Year CCTV On Street Total CCTV 2004 149,930 18,587 168,517 89% 2005 301,525 195,043 496,568 61% 2006 410,745 234,092 644,837 64% 2007 516,570 219,828 736,398 70% 2008 429,695 181,314 611,009 70% Total 1,808,465 848,864 2,657,329 68%

* Penalty charges (3) Question No: 453 / 2010 Victoria Borwick Please would the Mayor provide a breakdown of the numbers of TfL parking charges (issued by both CCTV and others), and the revenue generated, for past five years?

32 Answer from the Mayor: The table below shows the number of penalty charges issued by TfL and the income received as a result.

Note - this table relates to parking charges only, and does not include bus lane or moving contraventions.

CCTV Red CCTV Red On-Street PCNs On Street Year Route PCNs Route Issued Payments Issued Payments 2005 64,174 £2,150,963 195,043 £9,596,679 2006 218,364 £6,649,791 234,092 £8,963,879 2007 309,700 £10,929,773 219,828 £9,187,129 2008 261,240 £12,987,331 181,314 £9,683,406 2009 155,466 £8,709,456 120,361 £5,664,454

* Penalty charges (4) Question No: 454 / 2010 Victoria Borwick Please can you provide me with a percentage breakdown of the reasons given by TfL for the issue of CCTV penalty charges in 2009? Answer from the Mayor: Attached as Appendix C is a list of contravention codes and the associated reason for issue, used in 2009, when issuing CCTV penalty charges.

* Taxis for the Olympics (1) Question No: 455 / 2010 Victoria Borwick What will be the arrangement for taxis and private hire vehicles to deliver to and collect from the Olympic Park during the 2012 Games? Answer from the Mayor: Work is being undertaken to establish the likely demand for taxi travel to the Games. The exact location and design of access arrangements, taxi ranks, drop-off and pick-up locations has yet to be finalised at the Olympic Park and at other venues. The ODA has established a Taxi Working Group, including operators, TfL and other stakeholders who are providing input into the operational planning process.

* Taxis from the Olympics (2) Question No: 456 / 2010 Victoria Borwick Will the Mayor please provide the location of taxi ranks close to the Olympic Park? And the distance each rank is from the entrance?

33 Answer from the Mayor: The locations of taxi ranks for the Olympic Park have not yet been finalised. The ODA will work very closely with LOCOG, the ODA Taxi Working Group and the ODA Accessible Transport Panel to determine the best and most appropriate locations.

* Housing density Question No: 457 / 2010 Victoria Borwick There is concern amongst some that large swathes of areas of Outer London, that are thought of as sub-urban by most Londoners, will be considered ‘urban’ for housing density purposes by the London Plan because they are located within 800 metres walking distance of a district centre or, along main arterial routes. What defence does the London Plan offer residents to resist over-develop in these areas? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: My interim guidance on how to interpret the 2008 London Plan makes clear that local residents (and planners) have scope to interpret the term 'urban' in light of local circumstances - this is not a 'one size fits all' policy which can be used by developers to impose inappropriate development on local neighbourhoods. My new draft replacement Plan spells this out more emphatically, stressing that proper account should always be taken of local context, design principles and public transport capacity and providing considerable flexibility for the density guidelines themselves to be interpreted sensitively in different situations. *

34 Housing density (2) Question No: 458 / 2010 Victoria Borwick If areas within 800 metres walking distance of a district centre or, along main arterial routes, are considered ‘urban’ for housing density purposes. What area of land in outer London is considered ‘urban’? Would you provide this information broken down by borough please? Answer from the Mayor: A mechanical interpretation of this part of the draft replacement London Plan’s definition of an ‘urban’ area (800m walking distance of a district centre or, along main arterial routes) identifies 40,946 ha of land in Outer London as so characterised. This figure is broken down by borough below.

Please see my the response to question 457 on the greater flexibility provided by Density policy 3.4 of the draft Plan and by my draft interim guidance on implementation of the 2008 Plan. These will bear on the amount of land which may, in light of local circumstances, be considered to be ‘urban’.

Total Area defined as ‘Urban’ London Borough (hectares) Barking and Dagenham 2,841 Barnet 3,640 Bexley 1,895 Brent 2,536 Bromley 1,621 Croydon 2,937 Ealing 1,301 Enfield 3,438 Haringey 2,165 Harrow 1,862 Havering 2,254 Hillingdon 1,944 * Hounslow 1,488 Kingston upon Thames 924 Merton 2,064 Redbridge 2,136 Richmond upon Thames 1,839 Sutton 1,376 Waltham Forest 2,683 Total 40,946

362 Bus Route Question No: 459 / 2010 Roger Evans Given that the 362 bus route is a low frequency service with only two buses per hour, why is it so often delayed and why does it so often terminate its route early? Answer from the Mayor: The 362 has been disrupted by traffic congestion arising from road works at Whalebone Lane and at Gants Hill. TfL is discussing the performance of the service with the operator to identify suitable and affordable options to resolve the difficulties.

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35 66 Bus Route Question No: 460 / 2010 Roger Evans Why does the 66 bus route frequently terminate early? Answer from the Mayor: Route 66 has been disrupted by traffic congestion arising from a number of road works, for example at Gants Hill. TfL worked closely with the operator to provide additional resource (in the form of an additional bus) to maintain reliability. The performance of the route has improved since the beginning of the year; the most recent Excess Waiting Time score was 0.59 minutes, which is considerably better than the standard expected. Excess Waiting Time is the difference between scheduled and actual waiting time. TfL will monitor the service to ensure this continues.

It may be necessary for an operator to terminate a journey early when it has been particularly delayed. Such action allows operators to send delayed buses to parts of the route where passengers have been waiting longest, thus benefiting the majority of passengers using the route.

* Hainault Station Lifts Question No: 461 / 2010 Roger Evans When can my constituents expect to see the passenger lifts at Hainault Station working? Answer from the Mayor: I am pleased to say that the lifts at Hainault station entered passenger service on Friday 12 February, making Hainault the 59th station on the Tube network to have step-free access.

* Congestion Charge Residents Discount Renewal (1) Question No: 462 / 2010 Kit Malthouse Following the severe delays recently endured by people trying to renew their resident discount for the congestion charge, when will the current operators contract will be up for renewal, and what delay the contractors should expect if they apply for a renewal? Answer from the Mayor: The contract with IBM is for a period of five years from November 2009. The contract may be extended by up to a further two years. Any decision by TfL whether to extend the contract will be based on an assessment of IBM’s performance over the whole of the contract life and the value for money that TfL is achieving from the contract.

TfL apologises for the errors that occurred. IBM has suffered significant financial penalties as a consequence, and TfL has taken steps with IBM to ensure that these delays do not reoccur.

These simple, avoidable errors have detracted from what has generally been a successful transition. In one of the largest IT projects in Europe in 2009, the Congestion Charging systems were transferred from Capita to IBM, delivering both substantial savings for TfL and new functionality which will allow the introduction of automated payment later this year. *

36 Congestion Charge Residents Discount Renewal (2) Question No: 464 / 2010 Kit Malthouse Will IBM be penalised for its failure to respond to congestion charge resident discount applications within a reasonable period? If so, what will the penalty be? Answer from the Mayor: Yes, IBM has been penalised for the processing of residents’ discount applications. TfL has an extensive performance regime covering all key elements of the service that IBM provides to TfL. Any failure of a performance indicator accrues ‘service failure points’. These are then applied in accordance with the contract. Where IBM has accrued service failure points, a financial deduction is made from IBM’s monthly invoice.

In November the total amount deducted from IBM was £439,014. In December the total amount deducted from IBM was £381,753.

* Congestion Charge Residents Discount Renewal (3) Question No: 465 / 2010 Kit Malthouse Many people suffered extensive delays and inconvenience receiving their congestion charge resident discount and have been forced to pay the full fare and subsequently claim the money back, will these people be given compensation by IBM? And if so, how much? Answer from the Mayor: TfL apologises to anyone who experienced inconvenience.

Where additional charges were incurred by residents, TfL and IBM have sought to refund those charges, in many cases without the customer having to make a request. Where customers have set out additional costs, such as postage or telephone charges, TfL has generally taken the pragmatic view and made goodwill gestures as appropriate.

IBM has suffered significant financial penalties as a consequence of these errors, and TfL has taken steps with IBM to ensure that these delays do not reoccur.

These simple, avoidable errors have detracted from what has generally been a successful transition. In one of the largest IT projects in Europe in 2009, the Congestion Charging systems were transferred from Capita to IBM, delivering both substantial savings for TfL and new functionality which will allow the introduction of automated payment later this year.

* Congestion Charge Residents Discount Renewal (4) Question No: 466 / 2010 Kit Malthouse If those residents severely inconvenienced when renewing their resident discount for the congestion charge are not to be compensated by IBM, will the Mayor ask TfL to ensure that they will be duly compensated for the difficulties they have endured? Answer from the Mayor: Please refer to my response to MQ465 / 2010.

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37 Congestion Charge Residents Discount Renewal (5) Question No: 467 / 2010 Kit Malthouse What are the current average call waiting times for those residents calling the congestion charge customer care line? Answer from the Mayor: During week commencing 8 February, the average call waiting time for residents’ enquiries was 36 seconds. IBM works to a performance indicator that 80% of all calls should be answered in 20 seconds and 99.9% of calls within 180 seconds. IBM’s performance in answering calls is continually under review by TfL and IBM.

* Congestion Charge Residents Discount Renewal (6) Question No: 468 / 2010 Kit Malthouse TfL have been offering refunds to those residents that, due to the current backlog, had to pay the full £8 congestion charge on a daily basis until their account was updated. Why are some residents waiting longer than the ten days TfL specified for their refunds, and is this right? Answer from the Mayor: TfL and IBM worked together to seek to reduce the number of customers who had to apply for a refund. However TfL accepts that a number of customers have had to pay the full charge and then claim a refund.

All refunds are now being processed within 10 days. TfL apologises for customers who may have previously waited beyond the contractual 10-day period for their refund.

* Congestion Charge Residents Discount Renewal (7) Question No: 469 / 2010 Kit Malthouse Why, when there was a back log of six weeks in issuing residents discount for the congestion charge, did TfL continue to send out paperwork using second class postage? Answer from the Mayor: A resident’s reminder letter should be sent out 34 days prior to the expiry of a customer’s discount. On this basis, second class post will normally provide ample time for a resident to receive their reminder and renew their account.

There were delays in the issuing of some residents’ reminders. Given these delays, addressing matters over the telephone was considered the most effective route to take, and our service provider did this whenever possible. As well as contacting customers by telephone, TfL and its service provider extended discounts to allow continued payment at the reduced rate, and prioritised the processing of renewal notices received.

TfL apologises for the errors that occurred. The service provider has suffered significant financial penalties as a consequence, and TfL has taken steps with the service provider to ensure that these delays do not reoccur.

These simple, avoidable errors have detracted from what has generally been a successful transition. In one of the largest IT projects in Europe in 2009, the Congestion Charging systems

38 were transferred from Capita to IBM, delivering both substantial savings for TfL and new functionality which will allow the introduction of automated payment later this year.

* Congestion Charge Residents Discount Renewal (8) Question No: 470 / 2010 Kit Malthouse Constituents have complained of receiving incorrect congestion charge PCNs as much as 13 times in a month. What are the estimated contract losses in staff time and resources for such inefficiency? Answer from the Mayor: Should any customers receive a PCN incorrectly, they should contact the Congestion Charging call centre. The matter will be investigated, and any incorrectly issued PCNs will be cancelled.

Should PCNs be issued incorrectly, the cost of the work carried out to correct matters is borne by TfL’s service provider. In addition, the contractual performance regime includes measures to penalise the service provider for such errors and ensures that TfL does not suffer any associated loss.

TfL recognises that this is unacceptable to customers and is addressing these matters with IBM. *

Congestion Charge Residents Discount Renewal (9) Question No: 471 / 2010 Kit Malthouse oes TfL’s contract with IBM to run the congestion charge allow it to fine or penalise the contractor if it is judged to have performed poorly? If so, how is poor performance determined and what are the penalties? If not, should this not have been included? Answer from the Mayor: TfL’s contract with IBM sets out a service level agreement that enables TfL to measure IBM’s performance across 55 different ‘performance indicators’. These performance indicators measure all the key elements of the services. They include both timeliness and quality measures, as well as measures that relate directly to the IT systems’ performance and availability. The performance indicators are contained in the contract, which is published on TfL’s website.

The performance indicators are measured on a monthly basis. Any failure of a performance indicator accrues ‘service failure points’ and these are then applied in accordance with the contract. Where IBM has accrued service failure points, a financial deduction is made from IBM’s monthly invoice.

In November the total amount deducted from IBM was £439,014. In December the total amount deducted from IBM was £381,753.

* Bicycle Docking Stations (1) Question No: 472 / 2010 Kit Malthouse Can the Mayor outline the criteria for deciding where to install bicycle docking stations in the city?

39 Answer from the Mayor: TfL worked in partnership with the nine central London boroughs and The Royal Parks, who will be hosting the Cycle Hire scheme, to conduct a detailed site search to identify appropriate sites for Cycle Hire docking stations within the scheme area. In collaboration with these partners, TfL developed site selection criteria taking into account relevant local planning policies and supplementary design guidance as well as TfL’s own standards and design guidance. The key principles were:

• Space to accommodate the following minimum size docking stations (either 19.5m long by 1.4m wide (45 degree); 14m long by 2m wide (single linear row) or 8m long by 4.75m wide (double linear row)); • Minimal relocation of existing street furniture, including existing cycle stands, • Sufficient space to maintain clear pedestrian/ vehicular paths; • No loss of trees or grassed areas; • Safe and secure areas with good natural surveillance, street lighting and/or where appropriate, close circuit television cameras (CCTV); • Close proximity to attractions such as tourist destinations, community and leisure facilities; • A presumption against sites where the docking station would have a detrimental impact on sensitive townscapes and/or the setting of heritage assets.

In addition, the host boroughs and The Royal Parks each developed additional criteria which they applied to site specific locations within their scheme area.

* Bicycle Docking Stations (2) Question No: 473 / 2010 Kit Malthouse Why did TfL identify the quiet residential location of Bourne Street, Westminster, as a site for a docking station when the wider and more appropriate Mozart Square and Pimlico Road are available nearby? Answer from the Mayor: Site identification for Cycle Hire docking stations in central London was undertaken by both TfL and the relevant local authority. This location was identified by officers at Westminster City Council.

TfL and Westminster City Council believe that this is the most appropriate location for a Cycle Hire docking station within the immediate area. The site is on the carriageway and replaces two pay-by-phone parking spaces and a section of yellow line. Therefore the site will not reduce the width of the street from its current use.

Westminster City Council considered the planning application for this location and granted planning permission at a Council Committee Meeting on 22 October 2009 (reference 09/07015/FULL). TfL therefore intends to implement the docking station as proposed at this location. *

Lane Rental Charging Question No: 475 / 2010 Richard Tracey In the 6th February issue of ‘The Week’, the Mayor advocates lane rental charging to reduce the

40 disruption due to road works. Could the Mayor outline the programme to take this forward? Answer from the Mayor: In order to begin this process it is necessary to have a consultation period. This will commence in July 2010. The Department for Transport has indicated that the earliest implementation date will be October 2011 and it will need a full set of Regulations.

* Thameslink Question No: 476 / 2010 Richard Tracey Could the Mayor provide an update on the Thameslink upgrade? Answer from the Mayor: The 24 trains per hour service and improvements to stations being delivered through the Thameslink programme are key to improving the Capital’s transport capacity, and boosting our economy. Concerns that Network Rail may not be able to deliver everything promised to London within the available budget led me to raise the matter with the Head of Network Rail and the Secretary of State. Lord Adonis has now written to me confirming that, while his department will constantly challenge and review costs, he remains committed to the delivery of the full 24 trains-per-hour upgrade. *

Olympic Route Network Question No: 477 / 2010 Richard Tracey Could the Mayor ask the ODA when they will be in the position to start briefing stakeholders about their precise plans for the Olympic Route Network? Answer from the Mayor: The ODA’s programme of stakeholder engagement on the London 2012 Transport Plans has included the outline proposals for the Olympic Route Network. Plans for the ORN will develop over the coming months, and the ODA will undertake a further series of more detailed briefings with stakeholders during the Summer of 2010.

* Tower Bridge Question No: 478 / 2010 Richard Tracey Will Tower Bridge be closed from traffic for three months this year? If so, when will this take place? Answer from the Mayor: Tower Bridge will be closed to traffic at night time only for three months this year. This is to allow the City of London, who is responsible for the bridge structure, to continue undertaking statutory painting, structural assessments and repair works suitable to the Bridge’s listed status

Stages one and two of the City of London’s works are now complete and involved the painting of the suspension chains and underside of the fixed bridge sections on the south and north side of the Bridge.

41 Stages three and four, which involve painting the high level walkways and bascules are due to commence in April 2010. Stages 3 and 4 are the most disruptive and will involve the closure of Tower Bridge to pedestrians, vehicles and river traffic at certain times. Stage 3 works have been pushed back by TfL to the end of March to ensure that works on Southwark Bridge have finished. These works will entail up to 12 weeks of night time only closures. Stage four requires that for a period of the time the Bridge remain in a permanent raised and then lowered position to complete the works. TfL is still in discussions with the City of London and Port of London Authority about exactly when and how to complete this phase of work

The contractor is currently producing a working methodology to minimise the closure of the Bridge and both TfL and the City of London will scrutinise this to ensure the proposed method and duration of works are justified in terms of the work to be done and alternatives considered. *

Taxi Drivers (1) Question No: 479 / 2010 Richard Tracey How many Green Badge taxi drivers are there in London? Answer from the Mayor: There are currently 21,300 licensed ‘All London’ Green Badge taxi drivers in London. *

Taxi Drivers (2) Question No: 480 / 2010 Richard Tracey How many Yellow Badge taxi drivers are there in London? Answer from the Mayor: There are currently 3,546 licensed ‘Suburban’ Yellow Badge taxi drivers in London.

* Average Age of Taxis (1) Question No: 481 / 2010 Richard Tracey What is the average age of Green Badge taxis in London? Answer from the Mayor: In respect of licensed taxis, TfL does not distinguish between those driven by Green Badge and Yellow Badge drivers. There are currently 22,268 licensed taxis and the average age of the fleet is 7½ years.

* Average Age of Taxis (2) Question No: 482 / 2010 Richard Tracey What is the average age of Yellow Badge taxis in London? Answer from the Mayor: Please refer to my response to MQ481 / 2010.

42 * Average Age of Taxis (3) Question No: 483 / 2010 Richard Tracey In setting the age limits for taxis with the Mayor’s draft Air Quality Strategy, has any consideration been given to introducing differing age limits for green and yellow badge holders? Answer from the Mayor: TfL has been working with the taxi trade to find ways of achieving the necessary improvements in taxi emissions and mitigating the costs for the trade and ultimately, taxi customers. All options are being considered in this context.

* Taxi Age Limits Question No: 484 / 2010 Richard Tracey Has any progress been made with the taxi industry and central Government in finding ways to mitigate the potential costs to taxi drivers of implementing taxi age limits in 2012 and 2015, such as through extensions to the Government’s scrappage scheme, as stated in the Mayor’s draft Air Quality Strategy? Has any consideration been given to providing incentives and support for drivers to replace their vehicles earlier than these dates? Answer from the Mayor: I welcome the extension the Government has already made to the scrappage scheme and have urged further extensions. London taxis represent a particularly good case for such an extension, as a relatively small amount of support could help many British businesses while enabling significant improvements in air quality. I am hopeful that the Government will respond positively to these arguments.

TfL continue to investigate and explore opportunities for other grants and incentives that would support the introduction of newer, cleaner taxis to London.

* North London Line Infrastructure Question No: 485 / 2010 Richard Tracey What are TfL’s expectations of Network Rail’s contribution to the upgrade of North London Line infrastructure? Answer from the Mayor: TfL expects Network Rail to deliver the signalling and infrastructure works successfully, to enable London Overground to run more frequent, reliable and longer trains, particularly in relation to the Olympic timetable.

* Cycle Superhighway (1) Question No: 486 / 2010 Richard Tracey What consultation took place with Merton and Wandsworth Councils on the Merton to City Cycle Superhighway, particularly regarding road widths and heavy traffic on this superhighway route?

43 Answer from the Mayor: TfL has undertaken significant consultation and engagement with local councils along the Merton to City route, as well as with other key stakeholders such as the emergency services, cycle groups and representatives of the freight industry.

In May 2009, TfL met with borough officers, including those from LB Merton and LB Wandsworth, to present and discuss the concept of Cycle Superhighways. Merton and Wandsworth Borough officers, along with other stakeholders, were subsequently involved with the detailed Merton to City Cycle Superhighway route inspection held in June 2009 to assess the proposed route alignment and identify cycling improvements.

Throughout autumn and winter 2009 all boroughs along the route reviewed and commented on preliminary design drawings, and a number of changes were incorporated in light of this feedback. More recently, borough officers have had the opportunity to review detailed design drawings, prior to construction start. Traffic Management Plans for the construction phase are currently being finalised, prior to consultation with the Metropolitan Police and borough Traffic Managers.

In parallel, TfL has engaged with town centre groups in agreement with borough officers, to update local residents and business owners in the footprint of the scheme. Leaflets and information have been distributed to properties along the length of the route.

On 1 February 2010, TfL wrote to key stakeholders - including Assembly Members, Members of Parliament, and ward Councillors who have a route running through their constituency - to provide further information on the scope of the Cycle Superhighways works. The TfL website will be regularly updated to ensure that stakeholders are provided with information.

Cycle Superhighway (2) Question No: 487 / 2010 Richard Tracey How will TfL improve its consultation with the boroughs for future Cycle Superhighways? Answer from the Mayor: My response to question 486/2010 describes the approach to Borough consultation with regards to the Cycle Superhighways programme to date. This comprehensive approach will continue for future phases of the programme, building in any improvements that can be made from the experience of implementing the pilot routes.

* Energy from Waste Question No: 488 / 2010 Richard Tracey Do you agree that boroughs should have the autonomy to set their own waste priorities, so that for example Wandsworth can focus on Energy from Waste and avoiding landfill? Answer from the Mayor: In drafting my municipal waste management strategy a significant amount of modelling of both the economic and environmental attributes of all waste management scenarios was undertaken and this is the cornerstone of my strategy.

My modelling shows that waste reduction, reuse and recycling not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions but also saves money when compared to incineration. Energy from Waste plays a

44 significant role in my strategy; as you can see from our waste disposal methodology projections (p.27 of the Strategy), energy from waste plays a key role even through to 2031. It will be an important means for ensuring diversion from landfill, which is by far the worst disposal method in carbon lifecycle terms. However, it makes economic and environmental sense to consider waste reduction, reuse or recycling first as my waste hierarchy sets out.

I am aware my environment advisor has had discussions with you and the leader of Wandsworth Council and a further meeting to discuss these issues is being organised with officers from Wandsworth Council as well.

* Tramlink on Tube Map Question No: 489 / 2010 Steve O’Connell Given that the East London Line Extension will mean the Croydon Tramlink enjoying two connections to TfL-run lines, will Transport for London commit to including the Croydon Tramlink on London’s Tube Map? Answer from the Mayor: Feedback from customers has been to declutter the Tube map to help with navigation around the Tube network. A key principle to achieve this has been to prioritise the information that is shown . The Tube map shows the Tube network and key rail lines, and symbols are used to show where principle transport networks interface with the Tube network e.g. a Tram symbol at Wimbledon. The East London line extension to West Croydon will be shown on the map, and the Tram symbol at West Croydon will also appear.

The Oyster Rail services map that is displayed at Underground stations, as well as Southern, Southeastern and most Southwestern stations within Greater London, shows the detail of transport connections within London, and displays the entire Tramlink network, along with all other rail services within London.

* Kick start Question No: 490 / 2010 Steve O’Connell Will the Mayor provide an update on the success of the HCA’s Kick Start (Round 1) scheme? Answer from the Mayor: The schemes receiving Kick Start 1 funding were announced by HCA in November 2009 (scheme details can be found at http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/kickstart-round-one.htm).

I receive regular reports from the HCA on progress of these developments, but it is too early too early in the development process to comment on the success of this initiative.

* Home repossessions Question No: 491 / 2010 Steve O’Connell How many home repossession have there been in London in the 2009? Answer from the Mayor: According the the Council of Mortgage Lenders, nationally 46,000 properties were repossessed in 2009, but no regional breakdown is available.

45

Data from the Ministry of Justice shows that there were a total of 13,170 mortgage possession claims in London in 2009. However, these figures represent court actions for possession and not actual homes repossessed, as not all possession orders are enforced. *

Housing market Question No: 492 / 2010 Steve O’Connell What is the Mayor assessment of the housing market in London in 2009? Answer from the Mayor: Every quarter I publish a report giving an assessment of London's housing market, the most recent of which covers the fourth quarter of 2009 (these can be found on the housing publications section of london.gov.uk).

As at the end of December 2009 the evidence suggests that London's housing market is recovering, with house prices and transaction volumes both up in recent months, but still below the peaks seen in 2007/08.

Given the fragile state of the economy and ongoing lending restrictions, the outlook for the housing market remains uncertain.

* Housing Strategy Question No: 493 / 2010 Steve O’Connell What are the improvements does the Mayor’s new Housing Strategy offer that the previous Strategy did not? Answer from the Mayor: The key difference is my strong focus on working with, rather than against, local communities - for example, abolishing the rigid 50% affordable housing target and giving boroughs more influence over local decisions through ‘delegated delivery’. I also have a much stronger commitment to meeting extreme housing need - with London’s first ever target to halve severe overcrowding in social housing and the creation of my London Delivery Board to end rough sleeping. The promotion of social mobility through improving opportunities for home ownership is also a far stronger feature of my strategy than the previous one. My strategy is also far more concerned with making better use of the stock we have – for example, focusing greater investment and action on bringing empty homes into use, reducing underoccupation in the social rented sector and tackling unauthorised occupancy.

* Bond Street tube station (1) Question No: 494 / 2010 Steve O’Connell When Bond Street tube station is redeveloped, does the Mayor expect that there will be any additional non-transport related development on the site or associated development elsewhere? Answer from the Mayor: Yes. The site over the new station entrance (354-358 Oxford Street) will be redeveloped by a third-party developer to provide mixed use retail and accommodation units.

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Bond Street tube station (2) Question No: 495 / 2010 Steve O’Connell When Bond Street tube station is redeveloped, will the Mayor ask the developers and Transport for London to create small affordable retail units on the site for local independent shops to use, as supported by the Mayor in the London Plan? Answer from the Mayor: The site over the new station entrance (354-358 Oxford Street), to be delivered as part of the Bond Street station upgrade, will be redeveloped by a third-party developer to provide mixed use retail and accommodation units.

London Underground is in discussions with the developers and with Westminster City Council who would need to approve the over-site development. Any new development would need to accord with the London Plan. Policy 4.9 deals specifically with small shops. It states:

Planning Decisions

A. In considering proposals for large retail developments, the Mayor will seek contributions through planning obligations where appropriate, feasible and viable to support the provision of small affrodable shop units suitable for small or independent retailers.

* Bond Street tube station (3) Question No: 496 / 2010 Steve O’Connell What is the timescale for the completion of the redevelopment of Bond Street tube station? Answer from the Mayor: The station redevelopment is planned for completion in 2017, in line with the start of Crossrail services.

* Average speed CCTV cameras Question No: 499 / 2010 Steve O’Connell Given the warm way in which the introduction of average speed check CCTV camera on the A13 was treated with in the Mayor’s monthly report, should we expect to see more average speed check cameras installed on London’s roads? Answer from the Mayor: Main roads in London have some of the highest levels of road safety danger and have historically been very difficult to treat. TfL is aware that managing speed reduces collisions and is confident that the installation of the average speed camera system on the A13 will reduce collisions by around 50 per cent.

The A13 average speed camera system is expected to go live in summer 2010. An estimate of casualty benefits will be used to assess the effectiveness of the camera system. This should be available in summer 2011. Any further schemes would be subject to the outcome of the report. *

47 Ealing Broadway Question No: 500 / 2010 Richard Barnes Further to your answer to question 3928/2009, is the Mayor aware of the new opportunity for improved access to Ealing Broadway Station created by Boots’s decision to forgo their lease? Given this change of circumstance, will the Mayor ask TfL to look again at the possibility of re- opening the old District Line entrance to the station? Answer from the Mayor: Although London Underground Ltd owns the freehold to this parade of shops, the leasehold for the properties at 41-48 Haven Green (excluding 45a - Ladbrokes), which includes the Boots premises, was sold on a 125-year lease in March 2000 to Kerr Staff Ltd. Therefore the tenancy agreement for Boots at 41 Haven Green was not with any GLA group company.

The former District Line entrance is not in fact the former Boots premises, but was on the site of 45a Haven Green, which was let on a six-year lease in April 2008 by London Underground to Ladbrokes. Crossrail works to this station are due to begin in 2013 and the design of the new Crossrail station will address the issues of congestion and access. Crossrail represents the best value to address these issues. For the reasons stated here, and in my response to your earlier question, I agree with TfL that that this proposal does not represent good value for money and so I do not propose to proceed with it.

* Special Constables leaving the force Question No: 501 / 2010 Dee Doocey How many Special Constables have left the Metropolitan Police Service in each of the last five financial years? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly. * Additional information provided on 2 March 2010: The number of Special Constables leaving the force in each of the last five financial years are as follows:

Year ending 31 March 2005: 105 Year ending 31 March 2006: 109 Year ending 31 March 2007: 170 Year ending 31 March 2008: 208 Year ending 31 March 2009: 498

Voluntary resignation makes up the majority of these leavers, followed by joining the regular police service. The above numbers should be taken in the context of significant growth in MPS Special Constable strength from 697 (31/03/2005) to 2973 (31/01/10).

The large leap in numbers leaving the force between March 2008 and March 2009 can by explained by a corresponding period of increased scrutiny of the Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) due to the desire to increase MSC numbers and ensure that the MSC were properly trained and supported as we move toward the additional demands of 2012.

The process of ensuring that MPS records about MSC officers were accurate and that those who had become inactive were either re-engaged or formally resigned from the MSC led to a considerable level of wastage being recorded in that period. However it should be noted that 48 104 of those who resigned did so to join the regular service as police officers. This amounts to 21% of the wastage for that year.

Special Constable accommodation Question No: 502 / 2010 Dee Doocey If the MPS meets its recruitment targets for Special Constables over the next three years, will there be adequate accommodation within existing police stations to house them? Answer from the Mayor: I understand that the MPS is working hard in planning to accommodate the influx of Special Constables. *

Special Constable working hours Question No: 503 / 2010 Dee Doocey Have any consultations taken place between the MPS and employers regarding the increase in the minimum hours requirement for Special Constables from 16 hours a month to 25 hours a month? Answer from the Mayor: There is no increase in the hours expected by officers recruited under the Employer Supported Scheme (ESP) officers will continue to be supported by their employer to perform 200 duty hours annually.

* MPS hire cars (1) Question No: 504 / 2010 Dee Doocey As a result of the review of the MPS fleet, how much do you expect the MPS to spend on hire cars in the year 2010/11? Answer from the Mayor: The proposed budget for hire cars in 2010/11 is £4.6m.

* MPS hire cars (2) Question No: 505 / 2010 Dee Doocey Beyond their use in surveillance and/or special operations, for what other reason are hire cars required? Answer from the Mayor: The use of hire cars vary depending on operational needs of the police.

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49 Anti-semitic attacks Question No: 506 / 2010 Dee Doocey How many anti-semitic attacks were reported to the MPS for each of the last five years? Answer from the Mayor: The MPS recorded the following volume of anti-Semitic offences for the last five calendar years:

2005 - 219 2006 – 202 2007 – 154 2008 – 157 2009 – 251

The majority of offences relate to harassment, public order offences, malicious communications, common assault and criminal damage (including graffiti).

* MPS race discrimination cases Question No: 507 / 2010 Dee Doocey How many cases for race discrimination have been made against the MPS and/or the MPA in each of the last five financial years? Of these, how many have been settled out of court, and at what total cost to the MPA? Answer from the Mayor: The information provided below is in respect of all employment tribunal claims that include an element of alleged race discrimination (i.e. the claim may be solely alleging race discrimination or may allege a variety of jurisdictions such as race and sex and disability discrimination). The figures show all such claims lodged against the Metropolitan Police Service by police officers, police staff (including PCSOs) and members of the public. The figures include multiple claims (counted separately) from the same claimant.

Over the last five financial years in total 78 cases have been settled out of court and the settlements total £1,115,617 plus one further case with a confidentiality agreement.

Note that cases are not necessarily lodged and concluded within the same financial year.

Employment tribunal 2004 / 2005 / 2006 / 2007 / 2008 / claims 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Race Discrimination 17 19 11 18 29 Claims of multiple jurisdiction including an 12 22 25 20 25 element of Race Discrimination Totals 29 41 36 38 54 Settled 20 16 19 14 9

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50 Olympic Park running costs Question No: 508 / 2010 Dee Doocey With reference to my question 0316/2009 can you confirm that you are still planning for the GLA to contribute £10 million per year to the running costs of the Olympic Park from the year 2012/13? Answer from the Mayor: Yes.

* Voluntary and community sector Question No: 509 / 2010 Dee Doocey In your Economic Recovery Action Plan, referring to the economic downturn, you said that “In such times, the public sector needs to reaffirm its support to the voluntary and community sector which helps provide vital local services”. Westminster Council have recently cut their grants programme to the voluntary and community sector by 10%, and in particular have cut their grant to Voluntary Action Westminster by nearly 50%. Doesn’t this decision go against everything you are trying to achieve? Answer from the Mayor: This is a matter for the Borough in question.

* LDA budget for Olympic Skills Question No: 510 / 2010 Dee Doocey The LDA has transferred the Olympic Skills programme budget of £6.6 million from the ‘Olympics’ budget heading to the ‘Sustained Employment’ budget heading, yet the total ‘Sustained Employment’ budget remains the same at £53.1 million. Does this mean that £6.6 million has been cut from Olympic Skills, or £6.6 million has been cut from Sustained Employment? Answer from the Mayor: Supporting people to find and retain work is one of my key priorities, tackling London’s historic legacy of high rates of worklessness. Overall, around £1bn is invested in London annually, including through Jobcentre Plus, Learning and Skills Councils and Local Authorities, as well as the LDA. I am seeking to draw this together through the London Skills and Employment Board, which I chair, so that the overall system delivers better value for money and greater outcomes for employers and individuals.

In 2010/11, there will be three programmes that form part of the LDA’s Sustained Employment investment theme: Youth, Employability and Olympic Skills. The projected net expenditure outturn for 2009/10 for these programmes (including Olympic Skills) is £46m.

Therefore the budget for the Sustained Employment theme of £53.1m for 2010/11, which includes £6.6 million for Olympic Skills, is higher than the projected actual outturn expenditure for 2009/10. The LDA is also working hard to maximise the amount of income, leverage and match funding they get from sources such as European Social Fund and Local Authorities, investing in partnership to maximise their impact. In addition, through introducing a focus on sustained employment outcomes, outcome-based payments and a new approach to

51 commissioning, the LDA is achieving significant improvements in value for money, allowing it to achieve greater impact.

* LDA budget for sustained employment Question No: 511 / 2010 Dee Doocey The LDA is planning to cut the revenue budget for Sustained Employment by nearly 50% over the next four years. Do you agree with this reduction? Answer from the Mayor: The LDA has made no decisions and budgets for future years will be determined through the LDA’s annual business planning process and approved by the LDA Board and me.

In future years there is a probable projected reduction due to anticipated cuts in the Government’s grant to the LDA and the balance in this grant between revenue and capital expenditure. However, the levels of grant to the LDA will not, as with all other public bodies, be confirmed until the Comprehensive Spending Review in the autumn.

Supporting people to find and retain work is one of my key priorities, tackling London’s historic legacy of high rates of worklessness. Tackling rising unemployment as we come out of recession is vital. Overall, around £1bn is invested in London annually, including through Jobcentre Plus, Learning and Skills Councils and Local Authorities, as well as the LDA. I am seeking to draw this together through the London Skills and Employment Board, which I chair, so that the overall system delivers better value for money and greater outcomes for employers and individuals. In 2010/11, the LDA has a proposed budget for its Sustained Employment investment theme of circa £53m. This is a 15% increase on the projected net expenditure outturn for 2009/10 for this theme of £46m.

Notwithstanding, through introducing a focus on sustained employment outcomes, outcome- based payments and a new approach to commissioning, the LDA is achieving significant improvements in value for money, allowing it to achieve greater impact. In addition, the LDA is seeking to maximise the amount of leverage, match and other funding, such as from Local Authorities and European Social Fund, investing in partnership working to maximise their impact.

* Olympic land sales – National Lottery repayment Question No: 512 / 2010 Dee Doocey Do you believe that the repayment of money that has been diverted from the National Lottery to pay for the 2012 Games should happen according to the terms laid out in the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding between the Olympics Minister and your predecessor? Answer from the Mayor: My predecessor agreed the terms of the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding on repaying monies to stakeholders who are supporting the Games, including the National Lottery. I am in ongoing discussions with Government on these issues as part of the consideration of the possible transfer of LDA land to the Olympic Park Legacy Company.

*

52 Housing Strategy Question No: 513 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey What changes have you made to your statutory final Housing Strategy following the public consultation? Answer from the Mayor: The policies in my final statutory London Housing Strategy have been informed by the extensive consultation undertaken and will be published shortly.

* Provision of supported housing Question No: 514 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey What progress has been made on your target that “1,250 new supported homes will be provided between 2008 and 2011, to meet the needs of older and vulnerable Londoners”? How does this provision break down by borough? Answer from the Mayor: As set out in the table attached as Appendix D, the Homes and Communities Agency is forecasting that it will exceed this target.

Provision of family sized intermediate homes Question No: 515 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey What progress has been made on your target for larger intermediate homes (8% 2008/9; 12% 2009/10; 16% 2010/11). Are you on track to deliver these family homes? Answer from the Mayor: During 2008/9 and the first three quarters of 2009/10, 8% of intermediate homes delivered had three or more bedrooms. Progress on this target is being impaired by the government’s decision to withdraw their Open Market HomeBuy product, which is severely limiting the availability of family-sized intermediate homes.

* Climate Change Strategies Question No: 516 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey What were the costs of preparing, launching and consulting upon your Climate Change Strategies? How much was spent on consultants and the City Hall exhibition? Answer from the Mayor: At the time of publication, the Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy cost £32k including legal, design and the integrated sustainability appraisal / strategic environmental assessment costs.

The cost of developing the public consultation draft of the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy is £35k. This includes, legal fees and the integrated sustainability appraisal / strategic environmental assessment.

53 The strategies’ launch event and the exhibition (printing of portraits and hire of easels) cost £7k. The photographer contributed his costs. The consultation website was developed for £20k – however as this is the first time we have used this innovative approach a proportion of this cost relates to set up costs. The website is specifically designed to be flexible and will be used again for future consultation.

* Climate Change Mitigation Strategy – retrofitting existing homes Question No: 517 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey How will the HEEP programme step up delivery from being offered to at least 2,000 homes in each borough from summer 2010, to 1.2 million homes by 2012? What funding is required to deliver energy efficiency measures to 1.2 million homes, beyond that committed by the LDA? Answer from the Mayor: The Homes Energy Efficiency Programme (HEEP) aims to reach 1.2 million homes by 2015 (not 2012).

The HEEP rollout begins in summer 2010 and the LDA will be providing grant funding to each of the boroughs in 2010/11 and 2011/12 to support the initial rollout of their HEEP areas. This programme is the single greatest opportunity to reduce CO2 in London’s homes, to reduce energy bills for Londoners, and will be the largest programme ever of its kind in London. In addition to the LDA’s own funding, it is estimated that boroughs are currently spending in the region of £600,000 each on home retrofit through a variety of different programmes. Channelling some of this spending into the HEEP programme to deliver more impact for the same funding amount can put London on the trajectory to reach 1.2 million homes. HEEPs’ coordinated approach will also aim to attract significantly more CERT funding into London.

However, as you rightly intimate, these three funding steams alone are unlikely to deliver the full funding for the 1.2 million homes (although Government’s intentions regarding future CERT funding mechanisms and levels may affect this.) That is why we are very actively lobbying Government to make the changes needed to enable finance (i.e. up front free ‘pay as you save’ type) approaches to be rolled out through HEEP. The expectation is that this would overtake other HEEP funding mechanisms from 2012.

* Climate Change Mitigation Strategy – implementation Question No: 518 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Will you be producing an implementation plan for the Climate Change Mitigation Strategy which will show when policies are due to be delivered and how they are going to be funded and managed? Answer from the Mayor: An implementation plan will be included in the public consultation version of the Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy.

* Climate Change Adaptation Strategy – consultation Question No: 519 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Will you be consulting with young Londoners to get their responses to your climate change

54 strategies? Will you update the climate change information on the young Londoners website (current links are to a 2002 GLA report and out of date websites)? Answer from the Mayor: Our research with young Londoners conducted in the summer of 2009, found that climate change is considered to be a big problem for the quality of the environment in London by around a third of young people (34%).

I am currently consulting all Londoners on the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (CCAS), and the London Assembly and functional bodies on the Mitigation and Energy Strategy. (www.london.gov.uk/climatechange). I have promoted the CCAS consultation to over 600 children and young people stakeholder organisations via the Mayor's Capital Child e-bulletin's spring 2010 issue. During the consultation period I will distribute my You Tube video on the climate change consultation via social media networks to youth representatives and schools across the city, and encourage them to use their own networks to promote the website. The Children & Young People team will work with our youth ambassadors and 40 peer outreach members to identify further opportunities to engage young people on these issues.

Due to the launch of the new GLA website some of the links to previous work have been broken, we are in the process of identifying these and rectifying them.

* Air Quality – health research Question No: 521 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Expert evidence at the Environmental Audit Committee on 9 February referred to 3,500 premature deaths in London due to long term exposure to dangerous airborne particles (PM2.5) in 2005 and indicated the number could be up to 8,000. What progress have you made with the health research commissioned to support the next draft of your Air Quality Strategy? Answer from the Mayor: The GLA has commissioned consultants to carry out a study into the health impacts of poor air quality in London. The high-level results of the study will be included in the next draft of my Air Quality Strategy, which I expect to publish in the spring for public consultation. The full report will also be put on the GLA website.

* Air Quality – public awareness of health impacts Question No: 522 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey At the Environmental Audit Committee on 9 February a leading expert referred to 3,500 premature deaths in London due to long term exposure to dangerous airborne particles (PM2.5) in 2005, and indicated the number could be up to 8,000. Given that these numbers are higher than previously acknowledged, what urgent action do you propose to take to ensure that the general public in London is made fully aware of the health impact of poor air quality? Answer from the Mayor: The GLA has commissioned a study into the health impacts of poor air quality in London. The high level results will be used as part of an awareness campaign by the GLA to encourage people to take action to improve air quality. This will include a new air quality website on the GLA website which will provide information and advice about air quality in London. The GLA will also work with central Government, boroughs and health professionals to raise awareness of the issues. We are particularly focused on working more closely with the NHS to ensure vulnerable

55 members of the population are aware of and can avoid the impacts of air pollution. We have already had a number of discussions with various parts of the NHS in this regard.

* Air Quality - premature deaths Question No: 523 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Given that a leading expert at the Environmental Audit Committee on 9 February highlighted the importance of premature deaths as a metric in communicating the health effects of air pollution with the public, will you confirm that in the next draft of your Air Quality Strategy you will include estimates of premature deaths in London (at each of the 6% and 15% coefficients mentioned by COMEAP in its 2009 report) due to air pollution and publish the results of your health research? Answer from the Mayor: The GLA has commissioned a study into the health impacts of poor air quality in London. This will provide estimates of the number of deaths per annum attributable to poor air quality in London and the total loss of life years implied by these numbers. The research will use the COMEAP-recommended coefficients and compare this with other approaches. The high-level results of the study will be included in the next draft of my Air Quality Strategy, which I expect to publish in the spring for public consultation. The full report will also be put on the GLA website.

* Air quality hotspots Question No: 524 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey In answer to MQ171/2010 you stated that “Transport for London is putting together a package of measures for PM10 hotspots that will start to be implemented even before the Air Quality Strategy is finally published. The packages, which could include traffic management measures, improved enforcement of traffic offences and changed road layouts”. What “traffic management measures” are proposed? What consultation will be required to implement them and when could they be in place? What roads will be affected? Answer from the Mayor: Since the launch of the my draft Air Quality Strategy for Assembly and Functional Body consultation, officers have been working to refine the proposals for PM10 ‘hotspots’. This work is ongoing and the next draft of the Strategy will include further details about these measures.

It is anticipated that some of the measures could be implemented ahead of the final publication of the Strategy. Any measures undertaken to improve air quality at the hotspots will be developed in close partnership with the relevant London boroughs, as they retain their own responsibilities for local air quality as part of the Local Air Quality Management process.

In addition, the Strategy will be subject to a twelve week public and stakeholder consultation, giving boroughs, interested organisations, Londoners, and others the opportunity to comment on the Strategy as a whole, including any local or special measures.

*

56 Bus fleet emissions – NOX reduction Question No: 525 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey In answer to MQ161/2010 you stated that “TfL is currently investigating technology for reducing NOx emissions from the bus fleet and considering the options for 2010/11 onwards”. Given that you have successfully trialed some types of filters already why are you looking at further options and what are they? Answer from the Mayor: TfL trialled the fitting of NOx abatement equipment to existing buses from March 2005. The technology has developed subtantially since then, and so TfL is considering a range of options. TfL naturally wish to be confident that the right mix of measures are selected, that the abatement technology delivers substantially-reduced emissions and that London taxpayers get best value. *

Taxi fleet emissions Question No: 526 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Thank you for the useful answer to MQ190/2010 which explained that if all of London’s 22,000 taxis were to meet a Euro 4 standard there would be an approximate annual saving of around 20 tonnes of PM10 and 250 tonnes of NOx compared to the current taxi fleet. a) Please define the sources of the 20 tonnes (e.g. exhaust, and tyre and break wear) and what year(s) this refers to? b) Please set out the total taxi annual emissions (tonnes) in comparable form, (e.g. for taxi exhaust and taxi tyre and brake wear) for each of PM10 and NOX in each of Central, Inner and Outer London. c) What percentage reduction of taxi emissions (in comparable form) and of overall road traffic emissions for PM10 and NOX, would this 20 tonnes represent in each of Central, Inner and Outer London? Answer from the Mayor: a) The 20 tonnes of PM10 is the estimated annual reduction in exhaust emissions only. Brake and tyre wear emissions are not covered by the relevant standards and no technologies are available to make comparable improvements to brake and tyre wear. The base year for the calculation was assumed to be 2010 but a similar reduction would be achieved each year, diminishing with the assumed replacement of old taxis in the baseline. b) & c) It should be noted that these are very approximate figures and it is difficult for TfL to provide meaningful breakdowns by central, inner and outer London. There will be more detailed emissions and concentrations modelling for the proposed taxi options in the next version of the draft Air Quality Strategy, to be consulted upon in the Spring.

* Thames Tunnel – Kensington & Chelsea Question No: 527 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Since you support the Thames Tideway Tunnels in your Water Strategy, will you ask Kensington and Chelsea to end its opposition the Thames Tunnel, as its deputy leader and cabinet member for planning, Daniel Moylan, is on record as saying that the planning process for “this proposal must be challenged” and the Council reportedly pledged to fight the plan “tooth and nail”?

57 Answer from the Mayor: Kensington and Chelsea are broadly supportive of the need for the Thames Tideway Sewer, although understandably concerned about the impacts that its construction may have on their residents, businesses and environment. This is a reasonable position to take given that the detailed proposals have not yet been published.

The Council, along with others, is however concerned that the Government has announced that the planning decision will be made by the national Infrastructure Planning Commission and that this will result in the loss of local democratic accountability. This is what they are seeking to challenge.

For my part I want to see a timely and consistent planning process across the many local planning authorities that will be affected. I have offered to take the lead in the planning process but I recognise that this would require a change to the current planning application referral criteria.

* Thames Tunnel – Hammersmith & Fulham Question No: 528 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Given your support for the Thames Tideway Tunnels in your Water Strategy, will you be asking Hammersmith & Fulham Council to reconsider their recent publicity which included the suggestion that the construction of the Thames Tunnel could lead to people losing their homes? Answer from the Mayor: Thames Water is clear in its site selection methodology that it will exclude any existing housing sites. The detailed construction proposals are expected to be published by Thames Water later this year. I will of course want to see disruption minimised but any project of this scale will mean that some disruption is unavoidable.

I am aware that Hammersmith & Fulham Council has opposed the Thames Tideway Sewer for some time and my officers have met with Councillors to discuss the matter and understand the concerns. I recognise that there are concerns about the potential construction impacts of the project, nevertheless I remain convinced of the strategic need for it and I have said so in my draft replacement London Plan. However I have repeatedly said that the costs of, and the disruption from, the scheme must be minimised.

* Drain London Forum Question No: 529 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Further to MD455, what progress has been made in developing a London-wide surface water management plan? The proposal also suggests using £300k for creating a GreenRoof Fund to subsidise the cost of retrofitting green roofs in high flood risk areas, when will this GreenRoof Fund become available? Answer from the Mayor: My officers are at the stage of procuring the first of three phases of the Drain London project. This will deliver a much better understanding of surface water flood risk issues. The use of some of the funding to demonstrate and publicise Green Roofs will come in a later phase (Autumn this year onwards) and be targeted at areas where there are particular problems with little other methods available to reduce the surface water flood risk.

58 * Mayor’s Fund for London Question No: 530 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey As Patron of the Fund, are you aware of the identity of the anonymous “major global bank” which donated a seven figure sum to the Fund (Press Release 059)? Answer from the Mayor: Yes, I am aware of the donor’s identity.

* Great Spaces Question No: 531 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Please provide details of how much funding, from what source (TfL, LDA), each of the 36 Great Spaces projects have received to date? Answer from the Mayor: Nine of the thirty six projects within my initiative will receive, this financial year, a total of £200,000 feasibility and design funding through Design for London at the London Development Agency. Five projects have been allocated £16,000 and four £30,000 to assist their projects. The remainder are receiving design support and advice.

The total value of funding already secured for these projects is over £130 million, funded largely by the GLA and the boroughs. Further funding allocations will be made in the next financial year.

* Great Spaces Awards Question No: 532 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey When will you be holding your first annual Great Spaces Awards? What are the criteria to be eligible for an award? Answer from the Mayor: My Great Spaces Awards will be launched with a call for nominations in spring 2010. A shortlist will be announced in the summer and an award ceremony is planned for the early Autumn.

My desire is to see great new and amazing existing public spaces recognised. Plans are still being developed but it is currently envisaged that there will be two key awards, a best new space for a newly built or newly renovated space and a people’s award to celebrate community involvement and use of a street, park or square.

* GLA payments Question No: 533 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Since its move to TfL the GLA’s electronic finance system has proved unreliable. What percentage of suppliers were paid within 30 days in December 2009 and January 2010?

59 Answer from the Mayor: The percentage of suppliers paid within 30 days in December 2009 and January 2010 is set out below.

GLA % undisputed invoices December 2009 (Period 66.7% paid within 30 days 10) January 2010 (Period 11) 49.7%

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: GLA went live with SAP on 14 December 2009, on which date the invoice processing activities also transferred to TfL. There have been several data migration issues, this includes non migration of some vendors, purchase orders and invoices. Also due to it being a new system, there are delays in the authorisation process as staff become used to the new system. These are the principal causes of the decline in performance and will take a little time to fully resolve, but GLA and TfL officers are working closely to fully resolve these issues. The figures above are indicative of any transfer to a new system, and are not evidence that the GLA’s electronic finance system is unreliable.

SME payments Question No: 534 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Please provide an update on the achievement of Action 10 in your Economic Recovery Action Plan for: “The entire GLA Group - Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and the London Development Agency and the Greater London Authority - will halve its standard time for payment of valid invoices from SMEs to 10 working days”. Has this target been met in November 2009, December 2009 and January 2010? Answer from the Mayor: Paying SME invoices within 10 working days is a Mayoral policy implemented across the GLA Group in order to help SME improving cashflows. It is not a target, but performance and progress is closely monitored.

While functional bodies have reported a dip in performance for December-January which they attribute to the end of year holidays, overall GLA group performance has improved and is more consistent across the group since the implementation of the policy:

% of SME invoices paid by GLA Group in 10 working days or less.

GLA LDA TfL MPS LFB Nov 09 69.7% 84.25 83.3% 79.47% 90.7%

Dec 09 Till 14 Dec: 69.1% 87.08 81.6% 73.15% 88.6% Post 14 Dec: See comment∗ Jan 10 See comment∗ 81.49% 77.9% 71.34% 84%

As a comparison, in the first month of reporting (February 2009 when the policy was first being applied across the group), performance was: GLA: 63.8%, LDA: 55.3%, TfL: 82.1% MPS: 35.8%, LFB: 72.5%

60 ∗TfL are not yet in a position to provide data for GLA payments to SMEs (since transfer in December) as GLA supplier data and Purchase Orders are currently going through the process of being updated on SAP. Information will be available in March. *

10:10 Question No: 535 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey In your draft Climate Change Mitigation Strategy you state that “City Hall has signed up to the 10:10 campaign, committing to reduce its CO2 emissions by ten per cent in 2010, and will report its CO2 emissions publicly” (p.167). Will you make it clear on London.gov.uk that City Hall has signed up to 10:10, and where and when will you report publicly on emissions reduction? Answer from the Mayor:

The Mayor is listed a signatory to 10:10 on the 10:10 website. City Hall will publish its CO2 emissions, as well as its commitment through 10:10, on our website from Spring 2010.

* 10:10 – functional bodies Question No: 536 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Given that in your draft Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy you said that “the GLA group will take the lead on reducing CO2 emissions” what progress have the functional bodies made in signing up to the 10:10 campaign? Answer from the Mayor: On 19 February, Transport for London announced that 32 Head Office buildings, including 55 Broadway, Windsor House, Palestra and Pier Walk will sign up to the 10:10 commitment from 1 April 2010–31 March 2011 to collectively reduce carbon emissions by 10 per cent during this time.

TfL is also exploring the possibility of elements of TfL’s operational services signing up to the campaign.

LDA, MPA and LFEPA officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: I have already signed up the City Hall building to the 10:10 Campaign.

LDA The London Development Agency (LDA) has signed up to the 10:10 campaign on 17 February 2010. Active discussions with other parts of the GLA group are continuing. Additional information provided on 2 March 2010: LFEPA has almost completed the programme for energy improvements funded by its Sustainable Energy Reserve of £4.4 million in place since 2006. It has just approved a further 5- year capital programme. LFEPA CO2 emissions have been reduced by 16.7% from 1990 levels. The 10:10 campaign is based achieving the first 10% of emissions reduction by 'doing the easy wins first', which LFEPA already surpassed - it is therefore not feasible to sign up to a further 10% reduction across all sites during 2010. LFEPA continue to make very significant improvements across the estate such as the CIBSE award winning refurbishment at Croydon and the first completed BEEP scheme at Ilford - which achieved a 40% reduction.

61

The MPS’s Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) was developed for the purpose of achieving target reductions in carbon emissions in both the short and longer term. These were approved by the MPA and funding agreed for a programme of carbon reduction work. Performance is published annually in the MPA/S Environment Report.

Whilst supportive of the principles of the 10:10 campaign, key differences in the baseline and methodology between 10:10 and the CCAP means the MPS is unable to sign up at this time. The MPS is committed to carbon reduction and improving its own measurement and reporting capabilities in line with best practice, but needs to integrate any developing or new initiatives into its overall CCAP.

Supporting Business Improvement Districts Question No: 537 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Further to MQ176/2010, and your decision not to apply a lower multiplier or offset against the Crossrail BRS for businesses which are also paying levies to Business Improvement Districts, please outline the measures to support BIDs and “provide more co-ordinated support and advice to them” which you refer to in the final prospectus (p.83). Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: I fully recognise the challenges BIDs face in the current economic climate and with the introduction of the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement (BRS). GLA Group support to BIDs will include LDA funding for the London BIDs programme, dedicated GLA Group officers to support BIDs, exploring sustainable local delivery schemes and, potentially, expanding the London Cycle-Hire Scheme. We are also arranging for BIDs representatives to visit the Crossrail team to find out more about the plans and current progress of the construction of this essential transport infrastructure project. * Red route parking and loading bays – North Cheam Question No: 538 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey In answer to my previous MQ196/2010 you only provided details about Stonecot Hill. Please explain for the red route parking and loading bays on the A24 at North Cheam: what consultation has taken place with traders, what the results have been, and what further consultation is planned? Why is this consultation process taking so long, when there have been issues for more than a year with over zealous policing of recessed bays on adjoining side roads which have no impact on the free flow of traffic - which harms the already fragile trading of shops. Answer from the Mayor: TfL discussed with traders’ representatives issues with the existing pattern of parking and loading bays in this area . As a result of these discussions, TfL commissioned a report to determine whether there should be changes to the provision of bays here.

62 TfL has reviewed the findings of the report and is discussing with the traders’ representatives a range of proposals which could be put forward to consultation. Once agreed, TfL will proceed to consultation.

* Organising for Delivery – accommodation strategy Question No: 539 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey In answer to MQ149/2010 you said that £150,000 had been set aside as the budget for implementing the accommodation strategy, including ICT costs. However in answer to MQ150/2010 you stated that technology work to support the accommodation strategy was £179,600. Please set out the total cost of the accommodation strategy, and what implications this has for City Hall budgets if costs have been more than anticipated? Answer from the Mayor: MQ149 / 2010 identified the estimated costs associated with moving desks and equipment, undertaking building adaptations and purchasing new furniture to support the accommodation strategy.

This included £100,000 for facilities staff and work and £50,000 for the IT staff required to move and install equipment.

The actual cost of the IT staff has only been £24,600.

Separate to the accommodation strategy the IT Unit has been implementing technology to support flexible working within City Hall. This work has included:

Voice over IP (Flexible telephony) - £80,000 Wireless networking - £75,000

Giving a Total Cost of IT to support flexible working of - £179,600

The IT costs have been met from within the existing IT Capital Programme and have not been more than was anticipated. *

Hotel Expenses Question No: 540 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Why was your Director of Communications allowed to put on expenses a £250 bill for “One night accommodation at the 2009 Conservative Party Conference” when the Expenses & Benefits framework for GLA staff states that: “Up to 3 Star hotels should be used. Actual cost up to a maximum of £150 per night in Greater London and £110 per night elsewhere.” Answer from the Mayor: The Director of Communications accompanied me to the Conservative Party Conference where I delivered a major policy speech and undertook more than 20 media interviews. We stayed at the official conference hotel, a base used by conference members and located within the security cordon, to maximise the opportunities available in a short visit. Guto Harri’s claim was approved at the time and in accordance with GLA policy that staff pay a share of their conference expenses when they are a member of the host party. Mr Harri is not a member of any political party. Mr Harri also did not claim for meals or incidentals while at the Conference in Manchester.

63 * Meeting with Shadow Minister for London Question No: 541 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey What specific London issues did you and Justine Greening MP discuss at your meeting on 10 February? Answer from the Mayor: As Mayor of London I speak regularly to Government ministers and people who could form the next Government. Justine Greening and I discussed the current state of London devolution, Heathrow Airport and City Hall co-operating with London MPs.

* Meeting with Shadow Chancellor Question No: 542 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Who were the bankers in attendance at the lunch you attended with George Osborne on 19 January 2010? Answer from the Mayor: The bankers who attended the lunch were:

Marcus Agius, Group Chairman, Barclays Group plc Mark Garvin, Chairman, JP Morgan Europe Limited Colin Grassie, Chief Executive UK, Deutsche Bank AG Stephen Green, Group Chairman, HSBC James Leigh-Pemberton, Chief Executive Officer, UK, Credit Suisse Europe Securities Bill Mills, Chief Executive, EMEA, Citi Ludovic de Montille, Chief Executive, BNP Paribas London Jonathan Moulds, President EMEA, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Sadeq Sayeed, Chief Executive, EMEA, Nomura International plc Michael Sherwood, Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs Group and Co-Chief Executive, Goldman Sachs International Simon Warshaw, Head EMEA Investment Banking, UBS Investment Bank

* New Free Morning Newspaper Contract Question No: 543 / 2010 Mike Tuffrey Further to MQ1572/2009 (when you stated that the contract would be awarded in December 2009), and MQ3273/2009 (when you stated that LU would award the contract in January 2010), when are you expecting to award this contract and will the contract include the requirement to improve environmental performance across the Underground, including recycling? Answer from the Mayor: The existing contract for the distribution of Metro expires on 5 April 2010, and London Underground (LU) now expects to award the new contract by the beginning of March, once clarifications needed on the responses have been received.

64 Environmental performance is a key aspect of the morning newspaper contract and LU will be working with the successful concessionaire on environmental improvement initiatives during the contract period.

Newspaper contract on London Underground Question No: 544 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Please could you give me the guidelines for which you award the seven-year contract to distribute a morning free newspaper throughout the London Underground? Why has the awarding of the contract been delayed? Answer from the Mayor: London Underground (LU) had expected the contract to be awarded by now, but the process has been delayed because of clarifications needed on some aspects of the responses received. This is essential in order to secure the best possible terms, and LU now expects to award the contract by the beginning of March.

LU is unable to release guidelines for the award of this contract, as this is commercially sensitive information that is linked to the procurement exercise. To do so would compromise LU’s position, and the competition for the concession.

* Brentfield Road Bus Petitioners Question No: 545 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Will you meet with the petitioners you recently turned down for more buses on Brentfield Road and explain your decision to them? Answer from the Mayor: I will ask TfL to discuss this with you.

* A501 One way system King’s Cross (1) Question No: 546 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon How many personal injury accidents were there on the A501 one-way system in King’s Cross for the last three years? Answer from the Mayor: TfL is clarifying direct with your office which road in the one-way system you are interested in. Once they have established this they will provide the statistics you have requested direct.

* A501 One way system Kings Cross (2) Question No: 547 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Do you and TfL have any future plans to make this area safer for Londoners?

65 Answer from the Mayor: In 2008 TfL commissioned a traffic and pedestrian study in the Kings Cross area. The objectives of the study were:

• To test various traffic management proposals; • To assess the accuracy of traffic flow assumptions made for St Pancras International Station; and • To assess the pedestrian impact of St Pancras International Station on borough roads and the TLRN.

There are three main reasons to improve the pedestrians crossings in the Kings Cross area. Firstly, it is recognised that the existing pedestrian facilities are near capacity (Euston Road/York Way) or have inadequate alignments (Euston Road/Pancras Road). Secondly, it is expected that the numbers of passengers using Kings Cross and St Pancras stations will increase over the next 10-15 years due to the introduction of high-speed rail services from Kent and increased use of domestic services. Thirdly, St. Pancras will be a key gateway to the Olympic Games as the Javelin Shuttle service will run between St. Pancras and Stratford.

Pedestrian improvements at the junctions of Euston Road/York Way, Euston Road/Pancras Road and Pentonville Road/Caledonian Road were identified in the Kings Cross Traffic and Pedestrian Study and new designs are currently being prepared for these junctions, and preliminary designs will be complete by Summer.

Students and Oyster Cards (1) Question No: 548 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon TfL tell students they must be part of a “full time course with 15 tuition led/or structured learning hours a week.” A/ Do you understand this as referring to just contact time or self study too? B/ Do you not think clearer instructions would be more appropriate, such as “in full time education”? Answer from the Mayor: A/ This requirement allows both for contact time and self-study, although the self-study must be towards an assessable piece of coursework that is integral to the overall qualification, such as a submitted assignment.

B/ The stipulation for 15 tuition led/or structured learning hours a week is to assist education establishments understand TfL’s minimum requirement for what constitutes a full-time course, as the format of these courses can vary.

* Students and Oyster Cards (2) Question No: 549 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon I am informed that students cannot apply for an Oyster card during August. A/ Do you agree with me that it would be a sensible option for students to be able to apply for an Oyster card during the month before Universities start? B/Will you please look into this with a view to allowing students to do so?

66 Answer from the Mayor: The scheme closes during August for essential administrative, development and policy changes. I do not believe that changing this would be justified. An 18+ Student Oyster photocard lasts up to 14 October of the following academic year, allowing for an overlap period for second year students etc. First year students are only eligible for the scheme once they have registered, generally in September, so an August opening would not benefit them.

* Students and Oyster Cards (3) Question No: 550 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Why is it that student Oyster cards cannot be topped up online? What is being done to rectify this to make it easier for students to top up their Oyster Cards? Answer from the Mayor: TfL accepts that there is a case for making improvements here and is looking into the feasibility and costs of enhancing its on-line system to enable discounted products to be retailed as well as full fare adult tickets.

* Number 63 Bus Route East Dulwich Question No: 551 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Given the increasing number of requests from local residents, will you reconsider extending the 63 bus to Brockley Rise to provide a link to Honor Oak station once the East London Line phase 2 is completed? Answer from the Mayor: Demand at Honor Oak station is forecast to increase due to the opening of the East London Line. However, there is not expected to be a sufficient increase from the Peckham Rye area to justify an extension of route 63, particularly as route P12 provides the requested link for many potential passengers. TfL will be monitoring the effects of the opening of the line on travel demand and, if there is a significant increase in demand from the Peckham area, will then re- examine this suggestion.

* More Bus routes in East Dulwich Question No: 552 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Given the concerns from local residents, will you look into running a new bus service between Peckham town centre and Honor Oak to take in East Dulwich and Peckham Rye? Answer from the Mayor: Most of the links such a service would offer are already available. The only one that is not is between East Dulwich and Honor Oak. The level of new demand such a link would create would not be enough to justify the costs of introducing it.

*

67 Dial-a-Ride (1) Question No: 553 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Please provide Period 11 statistics for each London borough, and London as a whole including Requests, Refusals, Completed Trips, Passenger Cancellations, Total Service Mileage, Passenger Mileage, and the dead miles, (i.e. travel miles not carrying a passenger). Answer from the Mayor: Period 11 statistics for each London borough and London as a whole including requests, refusals, completed trips and passenger cancellations are shown in the table attached as Appendix E.

Passenger Mileage for the period is also shown in the table. Passenger mileage is the direct distance (as the crow flies) between each passenger’s origin and destination and does not take account of road layouts and multi-occupancy scheduling.

‘Dead Mileage’ is an element of operational mileage. During Period 11 Dial a Ride ran 359,017 operational miles of which ‘dead mileage’ was 148,120 miles (41% of operational mileage). Dead mileage includes runs to/from depot at start / finish of shift and mileage to next pick up. It also includes operational mileage that becomes dead mileage following passenger cancellations and passenger no shows.

Operational mileage and dead mileage, are not recorded on a borough basis as vehicles travel along the most suitable roads for the journey and not borough based.

Please refer to the table below which denotes Period Dates for 2009/10.

Period Dates - 2009/2010

Period 1 01 April 2009 to 02 May 2009 Period 2 03 May 2009 to 30 May 2009 Period 3 31 May 2009 to 27 June 2009 Period 4 28 June 2009 to 25 July 2009 Period 5 26 July 2009 to 22 August 2009 Period 6 23 August 2009 to 19 September 2009 Period 7 20 September 2009 to 17 October 2009 Period 8 18 October 2009 to 14 November 2009 Period 9 15 November 2009 to 12 December 2009 Period 10 13 December 2009 to 09 January 2010 Period 11 10 January 2010 to 06 February 2010 Period 12 07 February 2010 to 02 March 2010 Period 13 03 March 2010 to 31 March 2010

* Dial-a-Ride (2) Question No: 554 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon How many same day trips have Dial-a-Ride scheduled for London as a whole for each 2009/10 period. Answer from the Mayor: The number of same-day trips scheduled by Dial-a-Ride across London for each 2009/10 period are shown below.

68 For Period dates – I refer you to the table in the response to MQ553 / 2010.

Period Same Day Trips * 1 960 2 732 3 805 4 694

5 801 6 924 7 728 8 595 9 578 10 1,023 11 781 Year to date 8,621

Dial-a-Ride (3) Question No: 555 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What was the percentage of single occupancy trips for London as a whole for each 2009/10 period carried out by Dial-a-Ride? Answer from the Mayor: The percentage of single occupancy trips carried out by Dial-a-Ride for London as a whole for each 2009/10 period are shown in the table below.

For Period dates – I refer you to the table in the response to MQ553 / 2010.

Periods Single Occupancy Trips

1 33%

2 33% 3 33% 4 33% 5 34% 32% 6 7 31%

8 30% 9 29% 10 36% 11 31%

Year to date 32%

*

69 Dial-a-Ride (4) Question No: 556 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Please provide Dial-a-Ride’s Passenger Mileage per 4 week period (2009/10) for each London borough and London as a whole. Answer from the Mayor: Dial-a-Ride’s passenger mileage per 4 week period during 2009/10 for each London borough and London as a whole are shown in the table attached as Appendix F.

Dial-a-Ride (5) Question No: 557 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Please provide Dial-a-Ride’s Member and Service Cancellations per 4 week period (2009/10) for each London borough and London as a whole. Answer from the Mayor: The number of Dial-a-Ride passenger and service cancellations per four week period for each London borough and for London as a whole for 2009/10 to date are shown in the tables attached as Appendix G.

My response to this question should be considered with my response to MQ559 / 2010 relating to service cancellations.

For Period dates – I refer you to the table the response to MQ553 / 2010.

* Dial-a-Ride (6) Question No: 558 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon For London’s Dial-a-Ride 2009/10 refusals, please give a breakdown of the particular reasons and the number involved. Answer from the Mayor: Dial-a-Ride has been unable to accommodate a total of 116,489 journey requests in 2009/10 up to Period 11.

When a journey cannot be accommodated at the time of a customer’s request, this will generally be due to the reservationists being unable to find a suitable space in the schedules where it will fit.

The customer is asked whether they are happy for the request to be placed on a ‘wait list’ and staff will continue to try and schedule the journey during the course of that day to make full use of space freed up by passenger cancellations received. In most cases, it is not possible to identify any more specifically than this why a particular booking request could not be accommodated.

For Period dates – I refer you to the table in the response to MQ553 / 2010. *

70 Dial-a-Ride (7) Question No: 559 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon For London’s Dial-a-Ride 2009/10 member cancellations, please give a breakdown of the particular reasons and the number involved – using information gained from the question asked by the operators. Answer from the Mayor: During period 1 – 11 of 2009/10 Dial-a-Ride recorded a total of 157,724 passenger cancellations1.

Dial a Ride members do not as a matter of course always tell the Reservationist the reason for their cancellation. Reasons, where offered, are recorded in ‘free text’ and cannot be systematically reported upon. Principal reasons for cancelling are understood to be personal health, weather and change in an individual’s arrangements as could be the case for other elderly and disabled Londoners who travel by mainstream bus services.

Dial-a-Ride records all passenger cancellations according to when they are received. The proportions of each type of cancellation during period 1 – 11 of 2009/10 were as follows:

Cancelled on the day before travel 2 35% Cancelled on day of travel 46% Cancelled at door 10% Passenger no show 9%

For Period dates – I refer you to the table in question 553/2010. *

Dial-a-Ride (8) Question No: 560 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon For London’s Dial-a-Ride 2009/10 service cancellations, please give a breakdown of the particular reasons and the number involved. Answer from the Mayor: During periods 1 – 11 of 2009/10 there was a total of 1,9593 service cancellations by Dial-a- Ride. This equates to an average of just 6 cancellations per day across the 32 London boroughs1 combined and 0.2% of scheduled trips.

The proportions of each type of cancellation classification used for recording purposes were as follows:

Driver running late 28% Dial-a-Ride booking error 20% Bad weather 15% Driver unavailable 9% Vehicle breakdown 5% No reason specified 23% *

1 Figures exclude Newham as detailed cancellation data has not been available from Computer Cab from Period 5 2 Cancellations prior to the booking day are treated as ‘non- requests’ and not counted in Passenger Cancellation figures. 3 Figures exclude Newham as detailed cancellation data has not been available from Computer Cab from Period 5

71

Dial a Ride (9) Question No: 561 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon TfL has previously supplied the passenger mile for London Dial-a-Ride for Periods 1, 2 & 3 as being 152,447, 19,414, and 142,303. Please supply your explanation as to why, when dividing these figures by the respective periods’ trips made (105,447, 129,414, and 142,303), the miles per trip always results in 1.44 miles/trip. Answer from the Mayor: Whilst average trip length for periods 1, 2 and 3 does work out to 1.44 miles when rounded to two decimal places, variation does show at 4 decimal places (shown below). The pan London average also masks considerable variation between boroughs due to the differing sizes of each borough and the residential profile of DaR members, this variability is detailed in my answer to your question 553/2010

Given that around half of all Dial-a-Ride trips are regular bookings and that many of the casual bookings are likely to be similar trips to ‘favourite’ destinations, it is not surprising to find that the average trip length is generally quite consistent.

For Period dates – I refer you to the table in the response to MQ553 / 2010.

Period Trips Total passenger Average trip length mileage 1 105,698 152,447 1.4423 2 89,562 129,414 1.4450 3 98,506 142,303 1.4446

*

Dial a Ride (101) Question No: 562 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What was Dial-a-Ride’s budget for the years 2000/1, 2008/9 and 2009/10? Answer from the Mayor: In 2000/1 the Dial a Ride service was provided by six regional charities and a grant was given to them by London Transport. Total grant awarded to the six charities in that year was £16.4million (at 2009/10 prices). However London Transport also “funded” the charities’ activities by significant free issue of equipment, including the vehicle fleet, which does not show in the direct operational funding of £16.4 million.

In 2008/9 and 2009/10 Dial a Ride was operated by a subsidiary of Transport for London with a budget (at 2009/10 prices) of £30.5 million and £30.2 million respectively.

Budgetary provision under TfL includes all costs to fulfil premises maintenance responsibilities, and costs for the vehicle fleet including the introduction of over 230 new vehicles under TfL ownership.

*

72 Blackwall tunnel Question No: 563 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon A new road crossing in east London is urgently required to alleviate the congestion and resilience problems experienced at Blackwall. As TfL can’t afford it, how do you intend to fund it within the next ten years without hypothecating potential Blackwall tunnel toll revenue? Answer from the Mayor: I agree with you that new river crossings are required in east London over the next 10 years, and my draft transport strategy sets out the options for this. In terms of funding, the opportunities for capital funding are limited, and the strategy makes it clear that tolls may be required to fund new infrastructure, particularly river crossings. There is also the potential to seek PFI credits from the Government, which TfL is exploring.

* DfT funding cut to London’s Freedom Pass Question No: 564 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Now the Government has announced that London Councils will be losing £30million of funding which helps pay for the Freedom Pass, have you written to the Secretary of State for Transport asking him to reverse this decision which puts the future of the Freedom Pass at risk? Answer from the Mayor: I have made clear my strong support for London Councils position on this and the Secretary of State is well aware of my views on this unfair and inequitable cut in funding support for the Freedom Pass.

* Fill that hole! (1) Question No: 565 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon According to the website fillthathole.org.uk, run by the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation, TfL is rated 194th worst out of 212 for filling reported potholes. Out of 236 reports, there are only 35 reported fixed – a shocking 15%. As a keen cyclist do you agree with me that TfL must try harder to fix reported potholes in a timely manner for the safety of road users? Answer from the Mayor: TfL’s Highway Maintenance contractors inspect the Transport for London Road Network on a regular basis as part of TfL’s routine inspection and maintenance regime. Any potholes that are identified as posing a risk to the travelling public are made safe or repaired, with the most serious rectified in under an hour. The remainder are addressed within either 7 or 28 days (depending on severity).

In recognition of the importance of ensuring safety on the TLRN for all road users, cycle inspections of the network are now carried out, in addition to inspections carried out on foot or by car. It is hoped this will result in an improvement for cyclists.

TfL has repaired over 6000 potholes on the TLRN to date in 2009/10. The ‘Fill that Hole’ website requires users to report themselves whether (and when) pot holes have been filled. TfL would encourage cyclists to report potholes directly at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/reportastreetfault/newfault.aspx.

73 TfL is developing improvements to its ‘Report a Street fault’ site, which will automatically provide an acknowledgement to users who report a pot hole. The new system also allows users to report the presence of pot holes on any road – not just the Transport for London Road Network. Reports of faults on Borough-managed road are automatically forwarded to the relevant authority for repair. TfL is testing its new system and intends that it become ‘live’ by the Spring.

* Fill that hole! (2) Question No: 566 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Following the extreme snowy weather in Januray, how many potholes do TfL estimate on their road network? How many have been repaired to date and at what cost? Answer from the Mayor: TfL’s Highway Maintenance contractors inspect the Transport for London Road Network on a regular basis as part of our routine inspection and maintenance regime. Any potholes that are identified as posing a risk to the travelling public are made safe or repaired, with the most serious rectified in under an hour. The remainder are addressed within either 7 or 28 days (depending on severity). A total of 3590 minor carriageway defects (which includes potholes and other carriageway defects such as cracking and damage to anti-skid surfacing) have been identified since December 2009, of which 1205 were high priority and have been repaired. The cost of this service, even if resulting from severe weather occurrences, is a contractually fixed amount.

The remaining 2385 defects will be programmed for repair on a priority basis over the coming weeks/months. *

Oyster Extension Permit numbers Question No: 567 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon How many people have bought Oyster Extension permits since the 1st of January 2010? Answer from the Mayor: The number of Oyster Extension Permits, which are free, that were issued between 2 January and 13 February is 55,976.

* Amersham Station Question No: 568 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Why has the work stopped on the new lifts at Amersham station? Answer from the Mayor: As I said in my answer to question MQ3787 / 2009 in December, the difficult decision to stop work to make Amersham station step-free was taken in view of the significant financial pressures facing TfL. TfL will continue to try and deliver these projects, as and when funding is available.

*

74 Peak travel from outskirts of London into centre Question No: 569 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Given your introduction of an afternoon peak fare, will you reconsider this for passengers travelling “against the flow,” for example, those travelling into London for an evening dinner engagement or theatre trip? Answer from the Mayor: TfL is bearing in mind the possibility of a future option of this kind but also the need to maintain a balance between demand, available capacity and the impact on the fare box.

* Ten worst performing bus routes in London Question No: 570 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon According to TfL performance statistics what are the ten worst performing routes in London? Answer from the Mayor: This is set out below and covers the period from 19 September 2009 – 11 December 2009. In each case TfL is working with the relevant operator to identify solutions to the performance difficulties which exist, which in most cases arise as a result of the impacts of road works. The figures show Excess Waiting Time, which is a measure of reliability for routes which run at a high frequency, and is calculated by subtracting actual waiting time from scheduled waiting time.

The routes included in this list will change regularly as works are completed and others commence. The figures are not therefore a measure of long-term problems or poor performance specifically within the control of the operator.

Min Current Route Standard Performance

158 1.30 2.88 226 1.10 2.26 228 1.10 2.24 65 1.30 2.44 150 1.30 2.37 129 0.90 1.97 30 1.70 2.73 337 1.50 2.52 79 1.10 2.10 114 1.10 2.08

* Three worst performing bus routes per borough Question No: 571 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon According to TfL performance statistics what are the 3 worst performing bus routes in each London Borough?

75 Answer from the Mayor: Reliability data is aggregated along the entire route, so it is not possible to report specifically on the performance of a particular service in a localised area, for example within a particular Borough.

Please also refer to my answer to MQ570 / 2010.

* Cycling along the A316 Twickenham Question No: 572 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon A frustrated cyclist who regularly uses the cycle/pedestrian path along the A316 has informed me that it is extremely difficult to cycle down unless you go the same speed as the many pedestrians. Therefore: A/ Would you consider putting in a separate path for cyclists? B/ Do you have any plans to support and improve the safety of cyclists along this route, including the need for additional, and better enforcement of, toucan crossings? Answer from the Mayor: Conditions and facilities for cyclists on this section of the A316 have been assessed with local stakeholders, including cyclists, and potential improvements have been identified. Possible schemes include consideration of a separate cycle track in locations where there is sufficient width and pedestrian and cycle flows to justify such a facility. At present this scheme is a medium to high priority for the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) cycling budget and will be considered alongside other schemes in planning the future TLRN programmes.

The assessment also identified the need to improve the pedestrian and cycle crossings at St. Margaret’s roundabout. A scheme to replace the footbridge on the west side of the roundabout with a surface level crossing is in design development. This would provide a substantial improvement for pedestrians, particularly mobility impaired people, as well as for cyclists. Progression of this scheme is subject to consultation during design development and identification of the necessary funding to implement the scheme.

Further west, a similar scheme to replace the footbridge to the east of Hospital Bridge roundabout with a Toucan crossing is at a more advanced stage and is currently being consulted on. Subject to this consultation, it is anticipated that implementation of this new crossing will proceed during the financial year 2010-11.

* Vauxhall Tube station step free access scrapped (1) Question No: 573 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon I am informed that plans to have step free access in Vauxhall tube station were scrapped last year. A/ Can you tell me why the step free access has been scrapped? B/ Can you let me know how much TfL spent on the initial work to Vauxhall tube station before the plans were scrapped? Answer from the Mayor: The Vauxhall station improvements include congestion relief measures and step-free access.

76 Work to relieve congestion is scheduled to commence in 2016 with expected completion in 2018. The step-free access element of the scheme has not been scrapped, however, it has been deferred, as there is no funding available within the current business plan period. The scheme will be a priority for future investment and when developed, will be based on the feasibility design already produced.

* Increasing use of the Thames (1) Question No: 574 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Do you have any plans to open Wapping Pier so that Thames Clippers can use it? Answer from the Mayor: TfL has previously examined the possibility of opening Wapping Pier for public use. Unfortunately it was found that the current pier and land side approach would require significant work to bring it up to a suitable standard. In 2005, the cost of the necessary work was estimated at £2.3m. Given current cost pressures, the pier can only be brought into public use with significant third party funding.

* Increasing use of the Thames (2) Question No: 575 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What work are you and TfL doing to look at each of the conclusions and recommendations made by the Policy Exchange in its recent publication “A rate of knots?” Answer from the Mayor: I welcome the Policy Exchange’s recent report as a useful addition to the debate on how river services in London should develop and agree with the level of ambition for maximising the potential of the river Thames. The majority of the recommendations in the report are already being taken forward through the River Concordat group. However, the report does recommend a level of subsidy and investment that is not accounted for within the TfL business plan.

Members of the River Concordat group include the Port of London Authority, British Waterways, ODA, boat operators, riparian boroughs, TfL, and the LDA. The Concordat focuses on enhancing river services for the Olympic Games, increasing pier provision, improving service quality, better ticketing and improving passenger information. The group is also investigating boat yard provision, is addressing the skills shortage and looking at ways to reduce the environmental impact of services.

To date, successes of the Concordat include the launch of Oyster pay as you go on the Thames Clippers boats and the introduction of a new direct service between London Bridge and Canary Wharf.

* Train crashing into building materials at Aldgate Question No: 576 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon As reported in the media, a train at Aldgate station crashed into some building materials on the 19th January. A/ Can you tell me why this happened? B/ What steps have been taken to ensure this does not happen again?

77 Answer from the Mayor: The incident involved the roof of the first Circle line train of the morning scraping a scaffolding bracket that had been erected above the track the previous night. There was only minor damage to the roof of the train, though train services had to be disrupted while the scaffolding was removed.

Immediate steps have been taken to prevent this from happening again in the short term, while a formal investigation is undertaken by London Underground, with the full co-operation of the contractors involved. The purpose of the investigation is to identify the facts, root causes and actions so as to prevent a recurrence.

* Oyster PAYG in conjunction with Gold and Network Rail cards Question No: 577 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Why is it not possible at present to get Gold Card or Network Railcard benefits in conjunction with Oyster PAYG? How many people would benefit from this? Do you have any plans to introduce this? Answer from the Mayor: Railcard schemes are provided by the Train Companies, generally on a national or regional basis, and TfL does not hold any statistics regarding holder numbers.

Following discussions with Companies, TfL hopes to introduce PAYG Gold Card benefits from the end of May. The Train Companies imposed conditions on their Network Railcard scheme some years ago, which means that it only provides limited discounts for travel within London. The Train Companies continue to wish to focus this card on their regional leisure market, and have indicated that they do not wish to offer PAYG benefits for travel on their services within London.

* London Bus Networks (1) Question No: 578 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Some passengers find buses harder to use than the tube. Have you considered some kind of colour coding, along the colours used to mark the tube lines, for buses that follow similar routes? Answer from the Mayor: The scale of the London bus network makes this impractical. For examples routes 21 and 436 both run between Lewisham and New Cross so could share a colour. However from New Cross they have totally different routeings so the colour coding would not make sense for the majority of their routes. Local maps and Spider maps at bus stops and stations do currently use colour to aid journey planning.

TfL has enhanced the Journey Planner function on the TfL website site, to assist passengers find their way around the network. Users can now search for the bus they need using a postcode, place name or by a route number, and then see the relevant bus route on the familiar Google map network of streets and roads.

*

78 London Bus Networks (2) Question No: 579 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Will you consider colour coding tube replacement buses to assist passengers using them when Tube lines are closed for upgrade work? Answer from the Mayor: It is not generally desirable to rebrand rail replacement buses using London Underground line colours because they are generally only used during short closures and the buses then return to their normal services during the week.

The only occasion when specific branding has been applied was on the replacement bus services used for the East London line closure. This is because the closure was for an extended period, two years, and the buses were dedicated to the route.

However, all rail replacement buses display a destination card, containing route letter, destination and some “via” information printed in bright, highly visible colours. Where more than one rail replacement service is in operation in the same area, each route is allocated a different colour and letter. The information on these cards corresponds with the extensive rail replacement information provided online and on posters in stations.

There is also a line diagram style card in the side window of each bus, by the door, showing the route and stops of that bus / service. For the Northern Line, this would be black, Victoria light blue etc.

* Bus driver instruction Question No: 580 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Do bus drivers receive specific instructions that they do not drive past bus stops where passengers are waiting, even if there are other buses at the stop? Answer from the Mayor: Yes. Drivers are instructed to observe all stops closely, and where passengers are waiting (and there is space within the bus for further passengers to board) they should stop, regardless of whether a bus is already present. *

TfL consultation on Taxi fares Question No: 581 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon In the November 2009 TfL consultation on taxi fares and taxi information for passengers, Section 3 (a) 3.5 states that Transport for London believe historically that the supply of taxi- cabs at night is poor other than in times of economic recession. Could you tell me what evidence TfL used to make this assumption? Answer from the Mayor: TfL’s research for the Safer Travel at Night initiative shows, prior to 2008, about a third of late night travellers who intended to get home by taxi did so, and the main reason people did not use their intended option was that it was not available. This figure improved significantly in early 2008 when almost a half of those who intended to use taxis were able to, although the figure for early 2009 saw a fall back to close to the previous level.

79 Observations by TfL staff engaged in late night operations also support the statement that, at many busy times, taxis available for hire were hard to find prior to the start of the economic downturn.

* Funding cut for women and BAME Londoners to become taxi drivers Question No: 582 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Will you ask the LDA to reconsider their decision to cut the last 6 months of funding from a successful fast track scheme that helps women and BAME Londoners become Black Taxi drivers? It is of particular concern given there are 94 Londoners due to complete the course over the next 6 months. Answer from the Mayor: I fully support encouraging taxi drivers from across the spectrum of London, and this is being achieved through other means, such as a TfL awareness campaign in BAME media, careers fairs, libraries and so on. This has contributed to 30% of Knowledge applicants now coming from BAME backgrounds. However, this particular scheme, thought up under the last administration, failed in its own objectives and was extremely poor value for money. The £2 million investment was supposed to produce 400 new drivers, but so far has delivered just ten. At any time, especially in the current economic climate, Londoners would rightly question funding such a scheme.

The LDA has given careful consideration to this project as part of their ongoing review to ensure that their investments represent good value for all Londoners. It is clear and agreed by the delivery partner that out of the 400 participants taking part in the scheme, only 12.5% (50 participants) of the 400 contracted target would pass ‘the knowldege’ by September 2010. It is recognised that despite the LDA’s best efforts, continued investment in the project does not represent good value for money in a period of declining resources and competing priorities. *

Circle Line route from Hammersmith to Edgware Road Question No: 583 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon n the new Circle Line route from Hammersmith to Edgware Road I am informed that passengers having to change at Edgware Road are uncertain which platform trains are to depart from, and find themselves having to rush over the footbridge. A/ Please can you instruct TfL to look into this and ensure that it is clearly marked for passengers in the future? B/ Did London Underground’s planning and engineering staff carry out sufficient preparatory work to see if this new arrangement would work? Answer from the Mayor: When the new Circle line timetable was introduced, trains on particular routes were allocated dedicated platforms at Edgware Road for the first time. This makes it much easier to predict which platform a train will depart from and provides for step-free, cross-platform interchange.

The new arrangements are reflected in updated signage and other customer information. On the rare occasions that the scheduled service is disrupted, station staff guide customers to the correct platform.

80 The new Circle line route was introduced after 18 months of detailed planning and is providing significant benefits, especially an improved train frequency between Hammersmith and Edgware Road and a more reliable service across the whole line.

I will ask London Underground to look at what additional information could be provided at Edgware Road during its post-implementation review, carried out for all new timetables.

* Use of Agency Staff at TfL Question No: 584 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Please can you give me the following information about the use of agency staff at TfL: A/ How many Agency staff are currently employed within TfL? B/ How much collectively do they cost each month? C/ What percentage of a agency staff’s cost goes to the employee, and what percentage to the agency? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: A/ How many Agency staff are currently employed within TfL? 1,888 agency staff worked in TfL at the end of period 10 (9 January 2010). This number has progressively reduced over the financial year from 2,528 at the end of period 1 (2 May 2009).

B/ How much collectively do they cost each month? The average cost per period of agency staff was £13.6m (average of periods 1-10 in 2009/10).

C/ What percentage of an agency staff’s cost goes to the employee, and what percentage to the agency? TfL pays different rates to different agencies so percentages can vary.

Of the total cost to TfL, on average: -Agency staff receive 80 per cent (including working time directive holiday pay). -The agency receives 9 per cent. -The balance is National Insurance payments paid on behalf of the agency staff member. *

Countdown signs (1) Question No: 585 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Broken down by borough, please list how many bus stops are there; and how many Countdown signs there are currently installed at the bus stops? Answer from the Mayor: This is attached as Appendix H.

* Countdown signs (2) Question No: 586 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon How many stops that currently have Countdown signs will not under your latest proposals that 81 have been sent out to the Boroughs? Answer from the Mayor: Through the advances in information technology, TfL is now able to provide a more complete information service showing bus arrival predictions for every one of London’s 19,000 bus stops through a number of different methods (or channels), including mobile phone text messages, fixed and mobile web. TfL will also provide a new generation of 2500 bus shelter mounted signs– an increase of 500 signs across the network.

The new Countdown programme presents TfL with a unique opportunity to rethink the sign allocation to stops, allowing greater benefit to passengers while achieving a more considered and informed allocation. New generation Countdown signs will be installed at strategic locations where they will provide the most benefit to the greatest number of passengers, whilst addressing social needs where possible.

TfL have applied this approach to all locations within the network and in our initial proposals to Boroughs, this will result in reallocating 891 signs to other locations benefitting a greater number of passengers.

We are currently engaging with London boroughs on the proposed locations of the new signs, with all boroughs maintaining their current number of signs, or in most cases, receiving an increase of countdown signs.

* Countdown signs (3) Question No: 587 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Can you please provide me with a list, broken down by Borough of where TfL are currently proposing to install the new countdown system, as sent to all Boroughs in January, and a list, broken down by Borough of the stops where countdown is currently installed. Answer from the Mayor: TfL would like to discuss this data with you and is arranging this at the moment.

TfL have distributed a Borough-specific list to each Borough for review.

Any consolidated list is an extremely large data-file that is difficult to manage and would be best discussed at the proposed meeting. *

New trains on London Overground (1) Question No: 588 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon How many new trains have been ordered and delivered from Bombardier for the London Overground Service? Answer from the Mayor: • 20 class 378 trains have been ordered from Bombardier for operation on the East London Line – all trains have been delivered, and are now being tested • 24 class 378 trains have been ordered from Bombardier for operation on the Richmond- Stratford, Clapham Junction–Willesden Junction line and the Euston to Watford line. 16 have already been delivered, of which 14 will be in service from Thursday 16 February

82 • 13 class 378 trains have been ordered for the extension to Clapham Junction, and for the extension from Dalston Junction to Highbury and Islington • 8 class 172 trains have been ordered by LOROL for the Gospel Oak to Barking line *

New trains on London Overground (2) Question No: 589 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Out of the total number of new trains that have been delivered, how many are currently in operation? Answer from the Mayor: 14 class 378 trains will be in service from 16 February.

* New trains on London Overground (3) Question No: 590 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon How many of the new trains will be used on the East London Line and the Euston to Watford Service? Answer from the Mayor: • 20 class 378 trains have been ordered from Bombardier for operation on the East London Line. • 13 class 378 trains have been ordered for the extension to Clapham Junction, and for the extension from Dalston Junction to Highbury and Islington. • 6 class 378 trains will be in operation on the Euston to Watford line.

* New trains on London Overground (4) Question No: 591 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Do the new trains and infrastructure on London Overground combined meet the requirements for safe driver only operation with passengers on board as required by the rules of the railway? Answer from the Mayor: The Class 378 trains meet the requirements of Railway Group Standards for driver only operation.

* New trains on London Overground (5) Question No: 592 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon If there are issues with driver-only operation of these new trains, what is the cost and programme for rectifying this? Answer from the Mayor: Please refer to my answer to MQ591 / 2010.

*

83 New trains on London Overground (6) Question No: 593 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Are you satisfied that the new trains to be used on the East London Line are able to carry passengers safely with the infrastructure and design as currently installed? Answer from the Mayor: Please refer to my answer to MQ591 / 2010.

* New trains on London Overground (7) Question No: 594 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What is the potential impact on the opening of the East London Line of any adaptions required to the new trains scheduled to operate on this line? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Response provided on 8 March 2010: The Class 378 trains meet the requirements of Railway Group Standards for driver only operation. I anticipate the East London Line will open on schedule.

New trains on London Overground (8) Question No: 595 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Can the new trains on London Overground operate safely with just a driver at the current time? Answer from the Mayor: Please refer to my answer to MQ591 / 2010.

* A316 Chertsey Road/ London Road junction, Twickenham Question No: 596 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon I have received a lot of requests from constituents for the need for a safe crossing on the A316 at the London Road junction. Will you instruct TfL to review the need for a crossing here? Answer from the Mayor: The A316 Chertsey Road / London Road roundabout has a green man pedestrian crossing across the eastern arm of Chertsey Road. However, there are currently no facilities to cater for pedestrians or cyclists travelling east/west along Chertsey Road, crossing both arms of London Road. Following a number of requests TfL is currently developing the provision of facilities to cater for this movement. The proposal is focussing on improving the existing traffic islands to assist both pedestrians and cyclists, and it is hoped that a proposal will be finalised by December this year.

*

84 Ramps not working on buses? Question No: 597 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Further to my question last month (Question No: 108 / 2010) regarding ramps not working on buses I note that only 2 out of 108 ramps on buses on routes in Barking and Ilford were not working. If this is the case, why have bus drivers told my constituent on more than 2 occasions that unfortunately he cannot board the bus due to the ramp not working? Answer from the Mayor: I recommend that you forward the details of these examples to TfL, who will investigate with the relevant operator.

* Road congestion Question No: 598 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon As road congestion is rising in a number of areas, despite falling traffic, could you confirm if you intend to set targets for TfL to reverse this trend, and if so, by when will these targets be set? Answer from the Mayor: Congestion is a multi-faceted occurrence that is a combination of road capacity, vehicle speeds, delay, network resilience, journey time reliability and the degree of disruption from stop-start traffic conditions.

Stakeholder and public consultation undertaken in the development of my Transport Strategy has strongly indicated that people and business see journey time reliability as a key aspect of this. As part of my aim to Smooth Traffic Flow, TfL is now developing indicators to monitor performance. What is clear is that journey time reliability varies by routes, direction of travel, time of travel, seasonal factors and volume.

TfL’s developing performance indicator will give Londoner’s better information about the management of the road network. The performance indicator to be adopted is the percentage of journeys completed within five minutes of an average 30 minute journey. As this is very much a new area of road network performance monitoring, it is too early to set an exact target, but this indicator will allow for detailed analysis of the road network and congestion hot spots which will in turn allow for TfL to react to the issues in order to achieve an increase in journey time reliability. I am confident that this will allow us to improve journey time reliability. *

Consolidating freight trips Question No: 599 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Consolidating freight trips typically reduces vehicle trips by 40-70%. Due to poor and deteriorating traffic conditions, would you detail your plans for piloting this concept in central London? Answer from the Mayor: Consolidation has the potential to reduce trips to the delivery point by a substantial amount; however across London there is also the need to consider the overall mileage of the goods to the customer via the consolidation point, which may in fact increase the overall mileage.

It is important therefore that businesses consider the freight impacts of their procurement and TfL is developing Delivery and Servicing Plans (DSP) to enable businesses to address this issue.

85 TfL has already put the DSP into practice at its Palestra office and at 30 pilot sites across London. This approach has demonstrated a 20% reduction of trips through consolidation of suppliers and a review of the procurement practices.

Many existing supply chains use consolidation, from the large retailers to the multiple pallet networks, but to introduce new steps in the supply chains of multiple businesses will add costs, which unless off-set elsewhere in the supply-chain will detrimentally impact on London’s economy. TfL support for further pilots therefore needs to recognise this fact and ensure there is a clear commercial business case for consolidation centres. In central London a number of approaches are being considered; Crown Estates is currently subsidising a consolidation centre for Regent Street run by Clipper Logistics and TfL supported the data collection to enable a thorough assessment to be made of its impact. TfL is also a consortium member for a Technology Strategy Board bid by DHL for a consolidation centre with onward distribution by electric vehicles. TfL has already funded a fixed two-year feasibility study to discover whether a Construction Consolidation Centre would be a viable option within a commercial setting. The results clearly showed that this was the case and as a direct result, a private sector Consolidation Centre for the construction sector has been operating in Silvertown in Docklands since 2008. *

Discussions with Theresa Villiers MP Question No: 600 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What transport projects did you discuss at your meeting with Theresa Villiers MP on February 9th? Answer from the Mayor: My meeting with the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport covered all the main issues affecting London’s transport network. *

Meetings with Diplomatic Embassy representatives (1) Question No: 602 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Since June 2008 please list which representatives of diplomatic embassies you have met to discuss their non-payment of the Congestion Charges and when you met them. Answer from the Mayor: Representations to diplomatic embassies, with regard to non-payment of the Congestion Charge, are made by Transport for London and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Further details of these are given in response to MQ603 / 2010.

* Meetings with Diplomatic Embassy representatives (2) Question No: 603 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Since June 2008 please provide a list of where and when any member of your staff or a TfL member of staff has held meetings with any representative of a diplomatic embassy to discuss the non-payment of the Congestion Charge by that embassy.

86 Answer from the Mayor: TfL has continued to work with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to ensure that issues concerning non-payment of the Congestion Charge are addressed. Most discussions take place through the FCO.

In addition, since July 2008, TfL members of staff have held three meetings directly with embassy staff. In December 2008 there was a meeting with the Embassy of Switzerland. In February 2009 there was a meeting with the Embassy of Senegal. In July 2009 TfL staff attended a meeting at the Kuwaiti Embassy, attended by representatives from Kuwait, Oman, Mexico, Switzerland, Uruguay, Sweden, Russia, Costa Rica and Germany.

In this time TfL staff members have also had written communication with representatives from Oman, Qatar, Macedonia and Ukraine; and telephone contact with representatives from Zambia, Jamaica, the United States and Turkey.

TfL will continue to engage with the FCO and embassies. It is pleasing to note that some 74% of Embassies pay the charge on a regular basis as they are required to do. *

Bus routes operating on non-TfL maintained roads Question No: 604 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon With a welcome expansion in the number of bus routes operating on non TfL maintained roads, will you talk with London boroughs about what financial support TfL can offer to councils who have to maintain the roads on which some bus routes operate? Answer from the Mayor: TfL already provides financial support, £246 million over the last eight years, for the maintenance of the Borough Principal Road Network (BPRN) and as a result its condition has improved. Most of the Borough Principal Roads are key bus routes and all are important thoroughfares for pedestrians, cyclists and freight and as such are vital to London. TfL is not in a position to fund the maintenance of all roads that buses use but believes current funding represents a significant contribution. *

City Airport flight path review Question No: 605 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon I believe you are backing calls for a public review of the new London City Airport flight path brought in last year. What representations have you made or are you planning to make about this to push for a public review? Answer from the Mayor: NATS announced in October 2009 that it will be undertaking a new consultation, on behalf of the CAA, on revised proposals for aircraft routes and airspace management in the area of south- east England referred to as Terminal Control North. This follows the consultation undertaken in 2008. At this stage I have no further information regarding the scope of the proposals as NATS does not expect this consultation to start before September at the earliest because of the need to undertake further analysis. NATS will be consulting all of the local authorities affected by the proposals and I will work with the London boroughs to ensure that these proposals are widely and robustly considered.

* 87 PPP agreement and Northern Line potential closures Question No: 606 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Tubelines and London Underground have been in talks since last June to reach agreements on the Northern Line upgrade closures. How much has this financially cost TfL in terms of staff time and any mediation fees? Answer from the Mayor: London Underground has discussed the Northern line upgrade extensively with Tube Lines as part of its ongoing management of the PPP contract. It is not possible to separate out the financial cost to TfL of this staff time. No mediation fees have been incurred with respect to Northern line upgrade closures.

* Awarding contracts by TfL (1) Question No: 607 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon When TfL is procuring a service, such as the new signaling on the sub surface lines, what criteria are used to assess each of the tenders? What balance is given between areas such as cost, quality control, record of delivering similar work etc? Answer from the Mayor: Evaluation criteria and their weightings are always transparent and disclosed in the tender documents. Questions or criteria already raised at the Pre Qualification Questionnaire stage are not repeated at the Invitation To Tender stage.

It is acknowledged that no one evaluation model will fit all procurement scenarios and that evaluation models will range from very simple (price ranking only) through to very complex mathematical models using pre-determined weightings and sensitivity tests. As a general rule, the weighting given to cost and quality is dependent on the risk and value of the contract to be awarded. *

Awarding contracts by TfL (2) Question No: 608 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What happens when a tender deadline is set for a specific time on a specific date if one of the bidders submits their bid, say, 90 minutes after that deadline? Is it accepted or automatically ruled out? Answer from the Mayor: In instances of bids being received after the specified deadline the individual Head of Procurement will make a decision based around the reason for the bid being delayed, and if prior warning was given. If, for example, a bidder contacts TfL to advise that they have experienced a major server failure and will be one hour late, TfL would probably accept the bid.

TfL know prior to the deadline what bids are expected and when an expected bid is not received, TfL contacts the bidder prior to opening other bids to see why they have not made a submission.

*

88 Training and skills commitment in transport (1) Question No: 609 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon With the huge upgrade programme on the underground, crossrail and other transport infrastructure improvements planned for the capital what are you doing to encourage all contractors and partners carrying out this work to provide training and apprenticeships for young Londoners and Londoners out of work? How are you coordinating the different training centres and projects that different contractors have established or are developing to maximise impact? Answer from the Mayor: In March 2009, TfL published its 10 year Skills and Employment Strategy. The strategy details how TfL will ensure that it, and its supply chain have the skills and capability to deliver its investment programme, and give Londoners the opportunity to access training and employment opportunities arising from the works.

TfL requires companies winning major contracts to commit to providing a range of skills and employment opportunities, and to orient this activity around London’s communities, in particular young people and those out of work. These requirements have already been applied to over £3bn of contracts and approximately 3,000 employment, training and apprenticeships positions are planned for the next 3-4 years.

An event was held on 11 February, which brought together fifty suppliers with a range of funding agencies and support organisations, to ensure activity is co-ordinated across multiple contracts, and London’s skills and employment system is working to support these employers in opening up opportunities to Londoners. *

Training and skills commitment in transport (2) Question No: 610 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What are you doing to raise the profile of training and skills initiatives for young Londoners and Londoners out of work provided by contractors and partners working with TfL and with TfL itself? Answer from the Mayor: TfL is proactively working with suppliers, agencies and funding providers to ensure that suppliers have sight of, and access to existing employment and skills funding programmes. A variety of projects are underway focusing in particular on education/young people, worklessness and apprentices including:

‘TfL Inspire’ - 5,000 school children from across London receive a days training to promote Transport and Engineering Careers.

‘Route into Work’ - a pilot with the London Transport Museum and London Apprenticeship Company to enable 60 Londoners who are not in education, employment or training to access apprenticeship opportunities within the new Cycle Hire contract.

Alongside these activities over 300 unemployed Londoners will have accessed jobs with TfL suppliers between April 2009 and the end of March 2010. These have arisen from taster days, work placements and pre employment training projects arranged by TfL’s Supplier Skills Team in conjunction with suppliers and public sector support programmes.

*

89 The extra C10 buses Question No: 611 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What plans do you have to ensure that the additional buses on the C10 route continue after June, as the extended route is proving so popular with passengers in the Rotherhithe area? Answer from the Mayor: TfL introduced peak capacity improvements to route C10 in January this year in response to complaints about crowding. They are currently consulting on possible improvements that may be introduced when a new operating contract begins in March 2011. They have no plans to alter the C10 before this date.

* Rail summit (1) Question No: 612 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What do you think are the key achievements from your rail summit with the Train Operating Companies held on 12th February? Answer from the Mayor: The key achievement is that myself, TfL, the Association of Train Operating Companies and the train companies have reached agreement on specific areas where we will work together to improve services for the Capital’s rail passengers.

These areas include improving customer information and station standards, increasing the frequency of services, simplifying the fares structure for London Underground and National Rail, and planning for future growth.

* Rail summit (2) Question No: 613 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon You have agreed to hold another rail summit next year with the Train Operating Companies to look at progress. What will success from your summit look like in a year’s time in terms of fares, stations, customer information, service frequency and progress on other projects? Answer from the Mayor: Success would include progress towards:

• Simplification of fares and ticketing on Tube/National Rail services in Greater London • Increasing the number of National Rail stations in Greater London that retail Oyster • Improving travel information for passengers, both online and at stations, such as improved links between the websites of National Rail enquiries, train companies serving the Greater London area and TfL, and consolidation of route maps for the Capital • An improved passenger specification as part of the next Greater Anglia franchise • A joint approach to long term planning between TfL, the Association of Train Operating Companies and the train companies *

90 Rail summit (3) Question No: 614 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Will you ensure your summit next year is open to the public, press and passenger groups? Answer from the Mayor: The invitees to the summit next year are likely to be the same as this year. However, TfL will liaise with all its stakeholders and passenger groups as the actions from the meeting are taken forward.

* Meeting with Ian Coucher, Chief Executive of Network Rail Question No: 615 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What issues did you discuss at your meeting with Iain Coucher on 3rd February? Answer from the Mayor: It was a wide-ranging discussion on transport issues affecting London. We discussed the need to maintain investment in London’s transport infrastructure as well as the need for Network Rail system to be more robust during extreme weather.

* Thameslink (1) Question No: 616 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon At your rail summit you stated that you were worried that Thameslink could be descoped. Please could you explain what discussions you and your office have had with DfT and others about the Thameslink project. What reductions in the proposed service or delays are you anticipating? Answer from the Mayor: I wrote to Lord Adonis on 25 January to reinforce my support for the Thameslink project and to set out my concerns about the possible descoping of the project in the context of press speculation about possible delay to the project. The 24 trains per hour and improvements to London’s stations being delivered through the programme are key to my plans to improve the Capital’s transport capacity and boost our economy.

Lord Adonis has responded to my letter to confirm that while his department is constantly challenging and reviewing costs, he remains committed to the delivery of the full 24 train-per- hour upgrade.

I also raised this matter with Ian Coucher, Chief Executive of Network Rail on 3 February and reiterated the need to deliver 24 trains-per-hour. *

Thameslink (2) Question No: 617 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Are you aware of any proposed changes to the plans for London Bridge Station to accommodate Thameslink. If so, please provide details?

91 Answer from the Mayor: I am aware that Network Rail and the Department for Transport are considering how best to take forward delivery of the London Bridge element of the Thameslink Programme. As part of their normal project management processes, they are reviewing alternative design options. I understand that this is very much work in progress, and Network Rail will consult stakeholders as part of this process in due course.

* Route 45 – extension to Clapham South Question No: 618 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Given that the planned works to upgrade the northern line will result in many weekends of closures and closing stations early in the evening, will you consider extending the 45 bus to Clapham South for the period of the works to assist local residents? Answer from the Mayor: TfL does not believe that extending the 45 to Clapham South would bring much benefit to passengers. Route 355 already provides a direct link from Clapham South, Cavendish Road and Poynders Road to Brixton and the Victoria Line. Route 155 runs between Tooting and Elephant and Castle via all intermediate Northern line stations, including Clapham South.

* Complaints for delays on the tube Question No: 619 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Could you please provide figures for each of the last five years of the number of charter claim forms received by TfL from passengers seeking compensation for waiting more than 15 minutes for a train, broken down by station; and how many were accepted and compensation paid; and how many were rejected or further information sought? Answer from the Mayor: The spreadsheet attached as Appendix I shows the number of claims received every year since 2005, the number and value of claims that were accepted and paid, the number that was rejected and the number of claims where further information was sought before being either accepted or rejected.

LU does not record this data broken down by station.

* Neasden Station Question No: 620 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon If as stated in your answer to my previous question (125/2010) TfL are not planning to have Metropolitan Line trains stopping at Neasden because of the cost of bringing platforms up to standard for passenger use, why have Help Points been installed on those disused platforms at Neasden? What is the cost involved in installing the Help Points on the Metropolitan Line platforms at Neasden Station and do they work? Answer from the Mayor: The Help Points were installed in 2006 by Tube Lines, at the same time as they installed other Help Point equipment at Neasden station. This was part of a comprehensive station

92 refurbishment under the PPP contract, and Tube Lines’ costs for these Help Points are not available.

The Help Points are fully functioning and would be available for use by passengers should the platforms need to be used in an emergency situation, or brought back into use in the future, if circumstances change.

Help Points are also of use to London Underground staff in emergency situations, and as such need not be restricted only to areas used by customers.

* Neasden Station (2) Question No: 621 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Please can you confirm what the total cost would be in upgrading the platforms at Neasden Station so that Metropolitan line trains can stop there? Answer from the Mayor: In order to be able to stop Metropolitan line trains at Neasden, work would be required to repair the platform surfaces and edges which are uneven and vegetation would need to be removed. Additional lighting, signage and CCTV would need to be installed, and some structural work is also likely to be required.

In addition, because there is no longer an access route to/from the northbound Metropolitan line platform to the ticket hall, customers would be required to exit via the Jubilee line platforms and a subway at the north end of the station, which is currently only used by staff. The subway would require substantial work before customers would be able to use it as lighting, flooring and wall surfaces do not currently meet the standard required for customer usage. Signage would also need to be installed.

The cost of undertaking this work is estimated to be around £1.5 - £2m.

* Central Traffic Garage closure Question No: 622 / 2010 Jenny Jones Will it take police collision investigators longer to reach collisions in central London as a result of the closure of the Central Traffic Garage at Euston? Will this increase the time taken to restart traffic? Answer from the Mayor: Response times and road closures are constantly reviewed. While the scene is an important part of the investigation, it only forms a small part of the overall role for a collision investigator. Collision investigators are the second wave of responders as many aspects of the investigation at the scene are conducted by the scene manager who arrives with the first police response.

* First Capital Connect Question No: 623 / 2010 Jenny Jones Are you content with the discount scheme offered to First Capital Connect customers, and are you continuing to press the Secretary of State for Transport for further measures to improve this appalling train service for Londoners? 93 Answer from the Mayor: I am not content with the service First Capital Connect (FCC) has provided on their Thameslink route in recent months. The additional discount scheme offered by FCC gives passengers the choice of obtaining a discount from their next season ticket or free return tickets to be used anywhere on FCC’s network. Considering the level of disruption that passengers suffered, I believe more generous compensation should have been provided, although the compensation offered is greater than that required by their franchise.

Now that the situation has been resolved and services have returned to normal on the Thameslink route, I do not feel it is necessary to press the Secretary of State further on this. However, if services deteriorate significantly again, I will request that their franchise is terminated and a new operator sought.

* Electric vehicle charging points Question No: 624 / 2010 Jenny Jones Following your answer to 12/2010, will you instruct TfL to include a requirement to consider a renewable energy supply in the specification for charging points? This will deliver 100% reductions in emissions, rather than the 30-40% reductions achieved with a standard grid supply. Answer from the Mayor: The specification for charging points for the Pan-London network which TfL is currently developing will only specify the requirements for the physical charging post. The arrangements for the supply of electricity to each charging point will be the responsibility of individual partners (such as London Boroughs) who will own the charging infrastructure. Of course we are keen that the electricity is supplied from renewable sources and will work with the boroughs to explore the feasibility of delivering this.

* Road works and cyclists Question No: 625 / 2010 Jenny Jones Following your answer to 27/2010, can you confirm that TfL will withhold permits for any road works that do not reference and adhere to the guidelines ‘providing for cyclists at road works’? Answer from the Mayor: It is not possible to withhold permits for non-compliance with any guidelines. If any utility activities contravene the legal requirements under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 or the Traffic Management Act 2004 the recourse is for TfL to take the appropriate legal action.

* Cycle training in schools Question No: 626 / 2010 Jenny Jones How much will have been spent on cycle training in schools in 2009/10 and how much do you anticipate spending in 2010/11? Answer from the Mayor: Over £3m is being spent through the Borough LIPs on cycle training in 2009/10.

94 For 2010/11 responsibility has been devolved to the Boroughs as part of the LIP reforms, information on the number of children and adults provided training will continue to be reported on an annual basis.

* Smarter travel budget Question No: 627 / 2010 Jenny Jones What was the budget for Travel Demand Management in 2008/09 and what will it be in 2009/10, including money for local authorities? Answer from the Mayor: The budget for travel demand management (known commonly as smarter travel) in 2008/09 was £30m, including Local Implementation Plan (LIP) funding to London boroughs. The budget in 2009/10 is £22m, including LIP funding. The reduction reflects a number of issues, including the fact that the vast majority (in excess of 90%) of London schools now have travel plans in place, well ahead of the national average, and significant changes to the way Personalised Travel Planning is delivered in London to provide a more cost effective approach.

* Road Safety budget Question No: 628 / 2010 Jenny Jones What were the TfL and borough budgets for Road Safety in 2008/09 and 2009/10, and what will they be in 2010/11? Answer from the Mayor: The road safety budgets in 2008/09 and 2009/10 are as follows. This includes the London Safety Camera Partnership funding:

TfL is currently in the process of finalising a new directorate within Surface Transport, in which a number of programmes will sit, including road safety. This directorate is being established to allow the organisation to focus on achieving key outcomes, including casualty reductions, in an integrated and cost effective way.

Programmes and budgets for 2010/11 are being reviewed as part of this wider reorganisation and a breakdown of the 2010/11 budgets is currently unavailable. These programmes and budgets may also need to be revised in the light of the DfT's new national casualty reduction targets when these are published.

It should also be noted that due to reforms in the Local Implementation Plan funding arrangements, from 2010/11 onwards road safety spend will not be separately identified in borough allocations. Progress towards London-wide casualty reduction targets will, however, 95 be one of the key indicators which continues to be reported annually.

* Safety camera notices Question No: 629 / 2010 Jenny Jones Can you confirm that there are forecast to be approximately 224,000 fewer Notices of Intended Prosecution issued to speeding drivers and red light jumpers in 2010/11 compared to the 304,324 in 2008/09? What criteria are being adopted in order to enable such a reduction? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Response provided on 8 March 2010: TfL and the MPS are currently in negotiations as to the activity levels for 2010/11. Until such time as those discussions are complete, it is not possible to give accurate forecasts relating to Notices of Intended Prosecution.

* Mixed and balanced communities Question No: 630 / 2010 Jenny Jones How will you monitor the implementation of London Plan policy 3.10 to determine whether neighbourhoods dominated by a single tenure, be that social rented or owner occupied, are becoming more mixed over the next 25 years? Answer from the Mayor: In view of uncertainty over arrangements for future decennial censuses, those for monitoring the impact of Policy 3.10 have not been finalised. However, it is hoped that changes in a representative sample of neighbourhoods with different combinations of tenures will be provide a monitoring benchmark for the impact of this policy beyond 2011.

* Co-operative housing Question No: 631 / 2010 Jenny Jones Further to your answer to question 9/2010, if a new development was built by a co-operative using the Mutual Home Ownership model, would that also be recorded as social rent or as intermediate ownership? Answer from the Mayor: A new development built by a co-operative using the Mutual Home Ownership model would be recorded as intermediate low cost home ownership.

* Affordable housing on public land Question No: 632 / 2010 Jenny Jones What are the other means of ensuring long-term affordability of homes that you allude to in your answer to question 11/2010?

96 Answer from the Mayor: The principal means of ensuring long term affordability of homes is via planning requirements and investment regulations, which ensure that either the home itself is maintained as affordable housing in perpetuity or that the investment that funded it is recycled to fund more affordable homes.

Decent homes (1) Question No: 634 / 2010 Jenny Jones Can you provide a breakdown by borough of the number of homes that you expect to be treated under the Decent Homes programme using the 2008-11 Regional Housing Pot, and the number of homes by borough that will still fall short of this standard at the end of that funding round? Answer from the Mayor: With regard to the breakdown by borough of the number of homes I expect to be treated under the Decent Homes programme in the current investment round, the most recent data available is for 2008/09 and I refer the Assembly Member to Table 1 attached as Appendix J1. Table 2, attached as Appendix J2, sets out the projected number of homes that will fall short of the Decent Homes standard as at 1 April 2011.

Decent homes (2) Question No: 635 / 2010 Jenny Jones Can you provide the amount spent under the Decent Homes programme in London for each of the financial years since the programme started? Answer from the Mayor:

Financial Spend - Tackling Spend - Total spend on Decent year non-Decent preventing Homes homes dwellings (£'000) (£'000) becoming non- Decent (£'000)

2008/09 486,486 194,656 681,142 2007/08 389,416 172,774 562,190 2006/07 396,002 130,141 526,143 2005/06 471,548 143,848 615,396 2004/05 339,525 168,150 507,675 2003/04 294,289 125,017 419,306 2002/03 222,374 107,766 330,140 2001/02 95,435 67,327 162,762 Total 2,695,075 1,109,679 3,804,754 Source: Annual CLG Business Plan Statistical Appendix returns

97 * Decent homes (3) Question No: 636 / 2010 Jenny Jones How much more would the government have needed to put into the 2008-11 Regional Housing Pot to allow you, with the boroughs and RSLs, to bring every social rented home in London up to the Decent Homes standard by April 2011? Answer from the Mayor: Resources from the Regional Housing Pot (RHP) are not generally available to RSLs to fund decent homes work, as they are expected to self-finance the costs of improving their homes to this standard.

In theory no additional resources should have been needed for council owned homes. The amount identified for decent homes in the 2008-11 RHP was calculated using each borough’s own estimate of the funding needed. The one exception at that time was LB Camden, which had said that it could not meet the 2011 target.

However, since these original estimates were made, some boroughs have identified the need for further works, some have been unable to fund the costs of preventing homes becoming non decent, and in some the improvement programmes have slowed. The government has not yet made any additional funding to meet these new funding requirements.

Decent homes (4) Question No: 637 / 2010 Jenny Jones By when do you expect the Decent Homes research referred to in DD249 to be completed, and will the results be published on the LDA or GLA web site? Answer from the Mayor: I expect the Decent Homes research to be completed by Autumn 2010 and the report will be made available on the GLA website.

* Police databases (1) Question No: 638 / 2010 Jenny Jones Further to your answer to question 20/2010, can you confirm that the Metropolitan Police Service also hold records on additional databases such as Crimint and CO11’s photography database, and that the Metropolitan Police Service submit information to other databases such as those managed by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit and the database for the Automatic Number Plate Recognition scheme? Answer from the Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service has informed me that they hold records on databases such as Crimint and CO11’s photography database. On occasion, the MPS submits information to other databases, in accordance with relevant legislation and guidelines.

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98 Police databases (2) Question No: 639 / 2010 Jenny Jones What is the current MPS policy for the retention of records for people who were not convicted for a recordable offence, where the MPS owns and manages the database? Is this applied across all databases managed by the MPS? Answer from the Mayor: The MPS currently manages its databases on an event-driven basis, and the retention periods for personal information will vary depending on the information and the database on which it resides.

As a general rule, information will be retained for a minimum period of six years, although this is not currently a universal retention policy. For example, overt images taken at public order events will be disposed of as soon as it has been established that the MPS has no interest in the subject, whilst information relating to an unsolved crime is held indefinitely.

A new policy regarding the retention of all types of personal information is currently under development and will be published this year. This policy will be closely aligned to the "Guidance on the Management of Police Information".

* Police databases (3) Question No: 640 / 2010 Jenny Jones What is the current MPS policy for the retention of records for people who were not convicted for a recordable offence, where the MPS submits information to databases held by others? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: As per MQ639 / 2010, the retention periods for personal information stored on MPS databases varies depending on the information and the database on which it resides.

Information is retained for a minimum period of six years, although this is not currently a universal retention policy. For example, overt images taken at public order events will be disposed of as soon as it has been established that the MPS has no interest in the subject, whilst information relating to an unsolved crime is held indefinitely.

In the case of information shared with other organisations, the MPS will only share policing information with other organisations where there is a legal gateway to do so, a policing purpose and after consideration of other legal factors such as Data Protection Act 1998, Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and Common Law Duty of Confidence.

Regardless of whether information is shared proactively, reactively or through an ISA, every decision to share information will be taken on a case-by-case basis where the other agency has a need to know that information.

99 Police overtime Question No: 641 / 2010 Jenny Jones Can you provide the total overtime bill for the Met’s policing of public demonstrations in each of the years since 2000, not including opportunity costs, indicating how much of this bill was met by external contributions? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: Due to the large number of public order events each year it is not practicable to identify the overtime costs to the police for each public demonstration. However, since 2001, the MPS have prepared an annual report for the attention of the Metropolitan Police Authority detailing the cost of policing public order events where significant police resources have been deployed. This report is currently presented to the MPA Finance and Resources Committee and provides information on the costs incurred and external funding received for the most significant events during the year. This report is entitled "The cost implications of policing public order events" and was presented at the following meetings as listed below.

Date of Meeting MPA Meeting Period of Report

19/6/2001 Finance Year to 31 December 2000 29/5/2002 Finance Year to 31 December 2001 7/3/2003 Coordination & Year to 31 Policing December 2002 19/2/2004 Finance Year to 31 December 2003 7/4/2005 Finance Year to 31 December 2004 16/2/2006 Finance Year to 31 December 2005 19/7/2007 Finance 15 months to 31 March 2007 17/7/2008 Finance Year to 31 March 2008 30/7/2009 Finance & Resource Year to 31 March 2009

Young people’s travel passes Question No: 643 / 2010 Darren Johnson What are the Mayor and TfL doing to ensure that young people are taught to swipe their free travel passes on buses? Answer from the Mayor: TfL runs a programme of engagement with young people which reinforces the messages contained in the ‘Zip’ behaviour code. The TfL Safety and Citizenship programme team works with virtually all children in their final year of primary school (10/11 year olds) who are about to start travelling independently to secondary school. This is to ensure they are equipped with the 100 knowledge, skills and attitude to travel with respect, responsibility and awareness. Part of this work includes educating children on how to apply for their Zip Oyster cards, the accompanying behaviour code, how to use their card and to interact with staff respectfully. In academic year 2008/09 the team worked directly with over 82,000 children in this age group to deliver these messages.

On application for their free travel pass (the ‘Zip’ card), young people must sign up to a behaviour code which requires that they touch in with their Oyster card on every journey. The Zip card is a privilege and not a right, and can be lost if the behaviour code is broken. TfL data indicates that the majority of children understand the requirement to validate their card. Validations on the bus network from young people have increased from around 150,000 per day on average in May 2008 to around 500,000 per day on average in February 2010.

Ultimately if young people do not touch in their Oyster cards and this is identified by TfL Revenue Protection Inspectors, the individual will receive a formal warning making it clear that further failures will not be tolerated. If the same individual is identified again within six months, they risk having their free travel suspended, which can then be regained through schemes such as ‘Earn Your Travel Back’.

* Animal welfare Question No: 644 / 2010 Darren Johnson How do you intend to pursue animal welfare issues in the capital following the loss of the dedicated Animal Welfare Officer post within the Environment Team at City Hall? Answer from the Mayor: Whilst I care passionately about the welfare of animals in the Capital, most issues affecting their welfare primarily require a local response and are dealt with by the boroughs.

The GLA and its functional bodies have access to a wealth of expertise on animal welfare thanks to the working relationships we have with a number of specialist organisations knowledgeable on the subject. I am therefore confident in being able to deal with strategic animal welfare issues where I feel there is a need for my involvement, by working in collaboration with such organisations.

For example, the Metropolitan Police Service works closely with a range of animal welfare organisations to implement action on dangerous dogs and the illegal trade in endangered species. *

Crofton Park Safer Neighbourhoods Team Question No: 645 / 2010 Darren Johnson As Mayor are you concerned that the Crofton Park Safer Neighbourhoods Team in Lewisham is effectively four officers short and will you pursue this matter with the MPS to ensure that the team is brought back up to strength as soon as possible? Answer from the Mayor: I am informed by the MPS that the Crofton Park Ward Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) currently has one vacancy, which will be filled in early March 2010.

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101 Royal correspondence Question No: 646 / 2010 Darren Johnson Can you assure me that you will be open about any lobbying you have received by members of the Royal Family or anyone else and that you will put relevant information on the public record, particularly where it concerns matters that relate to your statutory powers such as planning applications? Answer from the Mayor: This is the most open and transparent Mayoral administration. However, as you are aware I am not permitted to release correspondence between the Royal Family and the GLA. It is a fundamental constitutional principle that communications between the Queen and her Ministers are essentially confidential in nature. The same principle applies to the heir to the Throne in that the rights he will exercise will be the same as those he will exercise as Sovereign.

* Air quality time extension (1) Question No: 647 / 2010 Darren Johnson If a time extension is granted from 2010 to 2015 (or earlier) to comply with the limit value for nitrogen dioxide, the Government must ensure that the limit value plus maximum margin of tolerance is not exceeded from 1st January 2010 i.e. an annual mean concentration of 60 micrograms nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre. The UK will be subject to infraction action if this requirement is not met. Please therefore list all the monitoring sites belonging to the London Air Quality Network where annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide exceeded 60 micrograms per cubic metre in 2008 and/or 2009 (using provisional figures where necessary), providing the percentage reduction required in order to comply with the limit value plus plus maximum margin of tolerance limit in 2010. Answer from the Mayor: The London Air Quality Network website (http://www.londonair.org.uk/), which is administered by King’s College London, contains data for all monitoring sites in London, including for the years 2008 and 2009. By clicking on the monitoring site shown on the interactive map, it is possible to view a range of data for that site, including concentrations of nitrogen dioxide.

* Air quality time extension Question No: 648 / 2010 Darren Johnson In your answer to my question 62 / 2010 about the fitting of particulate filters already approved by the Energy Savings Trust to Olympic construction vehicles it appears that your “quick pilot” announced last May has now turned into a desk study leading to a field trial which may then lead to implementation. At what point will particulate filters be fitted to all Olympic construction vehicles and how does this affect your promise that you will meet the limit values for PM10 “as soon as possible”? Answer from the Mayor: The pilot you refer to is the ODA’s pilot. Phase 1 is underway and initial results are expected shortly. This desk-based study will provide a thorough emissions inventory and a cost benefit analysis. I will press for the desk study to lead to Phase 2 (on site testing) being undertaken as soon as possible in 2010, assuming that the results from Phase 1 are not significantly negative. I remain committed to the full implementation of the Best Practice Guidance for construction and

102 demolition which was published in 2006. The GLA will undertake a review of that Guidance later this year, so that it can be updated if necessary in 2011. The ODA’s study will be considered as part of that review, which is intended to lead to improved practices at construction and demolition sites, including the greater use of particulate filters on construction plant in London. While the fitting of filters is important in general, the use of abatement equipment at the ODA site is unlikely to have an impact on PM10 limit values as this area is not have a problem with PM10 violations. However, we still feel strongly that the filters should be fitted both because of the impacts at that site and because of the demonstration value.

Air quality cover up Question No: 649 / 2010 Darren Johnson Do you agree that the Government has covered up the full scale of the impacts of air pollution on the health of Londoners? Will you write to the Department of Health to ask them to clarify their figures for premature deaths due to both short term exposure to PM10 (coarse particles) and long term exposure to PM2.5 (fine particles)? Answer from the Mayor: The GLA has commissioned a study into the health impacts of poor air quality in London. This will provide estimates of the number of deaths per annum attributable to poor air quality in London and the total loss of life years implied by these numbers. The high-level results of the study will be included in the next draft of my Air Quality Strategy, which I expect to publish in the spring for public consultation. The full report will also be put on the GLA website. We will use the results of this study to inform discussions with various parts of Government.

* First capital connect Question No: 650 / 2010 Darren Johnson Given the statement from Chris Mole, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport responsible for trains, that First Capital Connect would not have its franchise removed despite the appalling service Londoners have put up with in recent months, what further steps are you taking having previously written to the Secretary of State and have you made any progress in lobbying for the removal of their franchise? Answer from the Mayor: Recent performance by train operator First Capital Connect has improved following the dismal level of service earlier in the year. I will keep this matter under close review and will make further representation to the Secretary of State for Transport should the level of service significantly deteriorate.

* Staffing at train stations Question No: 651 / 2010 Darren Johnson Will you guarantee that stations and ticket barriers are staffed for the full operating hours, even if you close ticket offices? Answer from the Mayor: I have made a very firm commitment that all London Underground and Overground stations will continue to have staff available on the station to assist customers whenever services are running.

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* Electric vehicles Question No: 652 / 2010 Darren Johnson To what extent are your plans for 1,000 electric vehicles for the GLA family and 2,500 charging points reliant upon funding from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles? Will you ensure that Transport for London fund these commitments if the bids are turned down? Answer from the Mayor: My Electric Vehicle Delivery Plan published in May 2009 estimated that a total of £60m would be required to deliver the plan.

The TfL Business Plan includes provision for £20 million to support the Plan. The remaining two thirds of funding required to deliver the plan is expected to come from external funding sources, including, but not exclusively, the bid for ‘Plugged in Places’ money. Together with a number of public and private partners, TfL is working to secure this external funding. You will have seen the recent announcement that London has secured an initial £17 million for London wide charging infrastructure.

* New Bus for London (1) Question No: 653 / 2010 Darren Johnson Now that the contract has been awarded, what do you estimate the liability insurance premiums will be for the first New Buses for London, as compared to standard double-decker buses? Answer from the Mayor: TfL continues to operate open-platform buses on two Heritage Routes in London with a second crew member to assist with boarding and alighting. The liability insurance is a matter for the bus operators but I do not envisage it being substantially different to that of existing Routemasters. TfL will be incorporating a number of safety features into the open platform on the New Bus for London which will enhance its safety. *

New Bus for London (2) Question No: 654 / 2010 Darren Johnson Can you confirm that the cost is approx £2.2m per bus for the first five buses? Answer from the Mayor: It is not possible to divide the contract cost into the number of prototype buses and arrive at a unit cost for each vehicle, as development costs are recovered over the production life of the vehicle and not in the first five vehicles that are produced. TfL is principally paying for design and development, and evolution of the New Bus for London from a schematic design to production vehicle. The eventual production cost which already forms part of the contract is in line with that of a conventional diesel hybrid-electric double-deck bus. *

104 New Bus for London (3) Question No: 655 / 2010 Darren Johnson How many buses will need to be produced in order to make the new bus for London “competitive with comparable bus types” as per your answer to question 0462/2009? Answer from the Mayor: The final number is still to be determined but it is anticipated that the design and development costs will be amortised over a sufficient quantity to operate a number of key central London routes. The New Bus for London will be competitive with comparable vehicle types. New Bus for London (4) Question No: 656 / 2010 Darren Johnson Will the trials of the new bus include comparisons to standard double-deckers on the basis of staffing costs and safety risk? Answer from the Mayor: No. Trials will focus on the specific attributes, performance and operation of the open-platform vehicle, harnessing bus industry experience of safety and risk management. TfL has considerable experience of operating open-platform buses in London and aims to use good design and operating procedures to enhance this further.

* Bus Kilometres Question No: 657 / 2010 Darren Johnson Further to question 0057/2010, can you break the figure down by route per month? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010:

Bus-km figures are monitored per four-week period rather than by month. The additional km due to the conversions over a standard four-week period are: route km 38 37,864 507 6,856 521 12,006 total 56,726

Unfortunately there was an error made in the calculations for the response to question 0057/2010. The figures above correct this error, and in total there will be an additional 327,000 km due to the conversions during 2009/10.

There will also be a further 50,000 km due to the new weekend service on route 507 which are not represented in the four-week breakdown above.

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105 Air quality special measures (1) Question No: 658 / 2010 Darren Johnson Following your answer to question 66/2010 that you intend to help meet the EU limit values for PM10 and nitrogen dioxide as soon as possible, will you consider introducing special measures this summer to deal with pollution episodes which take us over the European standards? Answer from the Mayor: Since the launch of the draft Air Quality Strategy for consultation by the Assembly and Functional Bodies, officers have been working to refine the proposals for PM10 ‘hotspots’. This work is ongoing, and the next draft of the Strategy which will be published for public and stakeholder consultation will include further details about these measures.

It is anticipated that some of these measures could be implemented ahead of the final publication of the Strategy in autumn 2010.

* Air quality special measures (2) Question No: 659 / 2010 Darren Johnson Can you list the boroughs with which you or your officers have specifically discussed road closures and diversions in order to address air pollution? Answer from the Mayor: Since the launch of my draft Air Quality Strategy for Assembly and Functional Body consultation, officers have been working to refine the proposals for PM10 ‘hotspots’. This work is ongoing and the next draft of the Strategy which will be published for public and stakeholder consultation will include further details about these measures.

As part of this process, officials from TfL have informally discussed a range of potential local measures with relevant officials from the City of London, City of Westminster, London Borough of Camden and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. These are the boroughs which contain locations identified by TfL modelling as being most at risk of not meeting the PM10 EU limit values by 2011. Any measures undertaken to improve air quality at the hotspots would be developed in close partnership with the relevant London boroughs, as these retain their own responsibilities for local air quality as part of the Local Air Quality Management process.

* Reforms for London’s economy (1) Question No: 660 / 2010 Darren Johnson If major firms in London’s financial services sector are “too big to fail”, what reforms are you proposing to protect Londoners from a future crisis in the sector? Answer from the Mayor: I support stronger regulation of banks to prevent future crises, and a level playing field internationally to ensure that our world-class financial services sector can compete fairly with its opposite numbers worldwide.

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106 Reforms for London’s economy (2) Question No: 661 / 2010 Darren Johnson In the absence of a means to force the financial services to adequately insure themselves against risk, which you proposed in an Observer article on the 24th January, what reforms would you propose in the UK to protect Londoners against excessive risk taking in the sector? Answer from the Mayor: There will need to be an international agreement to protect Londoners from excessive risk- taking in this sector. Let me quote from that article again so that my position is clear. 'I agree with [Will Hutton], by the way, that an international accord should oblige the banks to insure themselves against the consequences of their risk-taking. We must somehow end this implicit taxpayer guarantee that makes the current bonus round so outrageous."

* Reforms for London’s economy (3) Question No: 662 / 2010 Darren Johnson When you met the European Commission to discuss reforms that would affect London’s financial services, what positive reform proposals did you suggest? Answer from the Mayor: I propose that there should be effective regulation of alternative investment fund managers to enable London based firms effectively to compete across a level playing field in Europe and internationally. I am merely seeking to ensure that there is both appropriate regulation of an international financial services sector at the right national, European and global levels and to enable the operation of the single European market in these services to work effectively - which will almost certainly indirectly benefit London based firms and London's economy more broadly as they have proved to be very successful to date.

* Reforms for London’s economy (4) Question No: 663 / 2010 Darren Johnson If the next government aims to re-balance London’s economy away from the over-dependence of the past on financial services, public spending and the property market, how would your policies contribute to this aim? Answer from the Mayor: As my draft Economic Development Strategy states, London’s future growth will come from a combination of consolidating our existing strength in business services and finance, together with further developing other growth sectors, including the low-carbon economy. I will continue to promote London as the global business capital and the city with the most competitive business environment in the world; to lead the fight against ill-thought-out and ad hoc changes to taxation and regulation, whether emanating from Whitehall or Brussels; to deliver investment in London’s infrastructure, such as Crossrail and the tube upgrade; and to use both the LDA and the LSEB to ensure Londoners have the skills necessary for a modern, diversified economy. *

107 London Green Fund (1) Question No: 664 / 2010 Darren Johnson Can you be more specific than “medium-term” in projecting when you expect the London Green Fund to reach the size of £100m of investment? Answer from the Mayor: The expectation is that the London Green Fund may take anywhere from three to five years to reach the size of £100 million investment, but the exact duration would depend on the financial market’s appetite for such investments and how quickly they can be delivered. We are currently seeing a very slow rate of decision making across the board in financial institutions following the recession and are doing everything possible to accelerate this.

* London Green Fund (2) Question No: 665 / 2010 Darren Johnson What metrics and standards will the fund manager use to analyse the financial and environmental impacts of investment decisions? Will they also consider social impacts? Answer from the Mayor: The fund manager, who is yet to be appointed, will use a range of metrics to measure the financial, environmental and social impacts of investment decisions. These will be agreed with the fund manager at the outset.

* Green Procurement Code (1) Question No: 666 / 2010 Darren Johnson Does the GLA group promote your Green Procurement Code when posting contracts on the CompeteFor system? Answer from the Mayor: Across the GLA Group, the Green Procurement Code is incorporated in all relevant contracts, including those posted on the CompeteFor System. In addition the Code is promoted throughout the GLA supply chain to London’s businesses through external industry wide promotions. *

Green Procurement Code (2) Question No: 667 / 2010 Darren Johnson Can you provide a breakdown of the number of contractors procured by the GLA group who have won bronze, silver and gold accreditation under your Green Procurement Code? Can you also indicate the total value of these projects? Answer from the Mayor: 68 organisations achieved gold, silver or bronze level of my Green Procurement Code in 2009 (16, 28 and 24 respectively). These are a mix of public and private sector organisations. Of the 52 businesses accredited, 15 supply to the GLA group, with a total value of £64,056,437.

108 Balfour Beatty Workplace BioRegional Development Group Calverts Cancer Research UK East London Advanced Technology Training FM Conway Limited Groundwork Halcrow Group Ltd London Remade Mouchel NCVO Ove Arup & Partners International Ltd Park Inn Hyde Park St Giles Trust se2

* Climate Change Mitigation Strategy Question No: 668 / 2010 Darren Johnson Please can you provide the data represented in figures 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 4.2, 4.3, 4.6, 5.3, 6.3, and 8.4? Answer from the Mayor: Please see the tables attached as Appendix K.

* Climate Change Investment (1) Question No: 669 / 2010 Darren Johnson How did you arrive at the figure of £17bn of investment needed to deliver your part of the 60% carbon dioxide reduction? Can you provide a breakdown of how much investment is needed by sector, and, within that, by programme? Answer from the Mayor: The levels of investment required are bottom-up estimates that were developed as part of the LDA’s ‘Prospectus for London, the Low Carbon Capital’ (2009). The programmes that contributed to this figure were those the LDA and TfL identified, in February 2009, as being the specific programmes (including further roll-out) that they had developed in response to climate change; they included retrofitting, decentralised energy and electric vehicle programmes.

The figure can be broken down into sectors (transport, retrofitting and de-centralised energy) and also into its component programmes, such as residential retrofitting basic, residential retrofitting extra and de-centralised, and all this detail can be found in Figure 3.1 of Chapter 3 of the Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy.

* Climate Change Investment (2) Question No: 670 / 2010 Darren Johnson How much of the £17bn investment needed to deliver your part of the 60% carbon dioxide reduction is needed by 2015 to meet the 22% interim carbon dioxide reduction target?

109 Answer from the Mayor: The estimated levels of investment required have not been broken down into levels required to meet each interim target as they were produced in March 2009 for the ‘Prospectus for London, the Low Carbon Capital’ report and were produced only to give an estimated overall cumulative total level of investment required through to 2025.

* Climate Change Investment (3) Question No: 671 / 2010 Darren Johnson How much of £17bn investment needed to deliver your part of the 60% carbon dioxide reduction is needed between 2015 and 2020 to meet the 38% interim carbon dioxide reduction target? Answer from the Mayor: The estimated levels of investment required have not been broken down into levels required to meet each interim target as they were produced in March 2009 for the ‘Prospectus for London, the Low Carbon Capital’ report and were produced only to give an estimated overall cumulative total level of investment required through to 2025.

* Climate Change Investment (4) Question No: 672 / 2010 Darren Johnson How did you arrive at the figure of £60bn total investment needed to deliver the 60% carbon dioxide reduction in London? Can you provide a breakdown by sector? Answer from the Mayor: The £60bn figure is an approximate figure that was calculated as part of our low carbon economy work to illustrate the magnitude of the investment required to deliver the 80% carbon dioxide reduction target in London by 2050.

This figure will be refined to inform the subsequent public consultation draft of the Strategy using the latest data available, including that from the London Energy and Greenhouse Gas Inventory (LEGGI), to provide a more robust estimate of overall investment required to meet an 80% carbon dioxide reduction target in London by 2050. *

Climate Change Investment (5) Question No: 673 / 2010 Darren Johnson How much of the £60bn total investment will need to happen between now and 2015 to reach the 22% interim carbon dioxide emissions reduction target? Answer from the Mayor: This figure is an approximate estimation of the total levels of investment that may be required to deliver an 80% carbon dioxide reduction target for London by 2050 and is not at this stage broken down into levels required to meet each of the interim targets.

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110 Climate Change Investment (6) Question No: 674 / 2010 Darren Johnson How much of the £60bn total investment will need to happen between 2015 and 2020 to reach the 38% interim carbon dioxide emissions reduction target? Answer from the Mayor: This figure is an approximate estimation of the total levels of investment that may be required to deliver an 80% carbon dioxide reduction target for London by 2050 and is not this stage broken down into levels required to meet each of the interim targets. *

JESSICA funding Question No: 675 / 2010 Darren Johnson How much of the £64m JESSICA funding allocated to decentralised energy has or will be put into the London Green Fund? Answer from the Mayor: Matching, and possibly combining, the Green Fund with JESSICA funds is a possibility. Work is underway to ensure appropriate synergy between the funds such that their effectiveness and return from investment is maximised.

* Decentralised energy financing (1) Question No: 676 / 2010 Darren Johnson How much of the £5-7bn overall investment will need to be invested between now and 2015 to reach the target of 10% decentralised energy by 2015? Answer from the Mayor: My draft Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy sets out the total capital investment required to achieve a 25 per cent Decentralised Energy target by 2025. This is in the order of £5 to £7 billion.

To meet the implementation timeline an investment of around £2 to £3 billion would be required to deliver the 10% Decentralised Energy target by 2015.

* Decentralised energy financing (2) Question No: 677 / 2010 Darren Johnson To reach the 10% decentralised energy target in 2015 how much money do you expect to be invested from a) European funding b) national government c) LDA or GLA funds and d) private investment? Answer from the Mayor: The level and availability of national government grant funding is not known at this time, but the LDA continues to work closely with Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on a range of policy matters, key to unlocking private capital.

111 The LDA business plan itself has a planning total of £17.5m of spend over the next 4 years. With regard to European Funding, London is expecting a significant share of the £100 million JESSSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas) fund to go into decentralised energy projects.

Further European funding for individual projects also remains a possibility that is actively being explored. All these sources of public funding will be used to leverage further private funding. Separately, sources of privately funded projects are emerging in London on Decentralised Energy.

* HEEP financing (1) Question No: 678 / 2010 Darren Johnson How much will the HEEP programme cost in the period 2012-2015, to deliver cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and easy measures to 1 million homes? Answer from the Mayor: This will turn on major national policy decisions in the next few years. The Greater London Authority is actively lobbying DECC and others on these issued.

* HEEP financing (2) Question No: 679 / 2010 Darren Johnson What levels of funding do you expect from a) LDA or GLA funds, b) other public investment, and c) private investment for HEEP between 2012-2015? Answer from the Mayor: Please see my response to MQ678 / 2010.

* HEEP and fuel poverty Question No: 680 / 2010 Darren Johnson As HEEP is rolled out will you include additional funds to ensure that insulation can be provided for free to the 159,000 fuel poor households in London that do not qualify for free insulation under the Government’s Warm Front scheme? Answer from the Mayor: The LDA is currently coordinating nine demonstration projects across London, some of which are testing the increased take up of loft and cavity wall insulation through further subsidies and grants, funded by the boroughs themselves. For the programme roll out they are developing a programme of work that will promote good practice and lessons learnt.

The LDA is encouraging boroughs to identify local priorities and build these into their own HEEP projects. Therefore, for boroughs with significant numbers of vulnerable residents and fuel poor we will promote topping up CERT/CESP subsidies so that these residents can receive free insulation.

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112 BEEP (1) Question No: 681 / 2010 Darren Johnson Will all of the 200 BEEP building retrofits per year in 2012-15 be financed by the London Green Fund? If not, where will the additional funding come from? Answer from the Mayor: The London Green Fund will operate as a revolving fund and aims to provide financing at commercial terms for BEEP projects during 2012 – 15. However, some organisations participating in BEEP will provide funding directly for retrofitting their buildings. The London Green Fund will help to catalyse energy efficiency activities and investment in these programmes in London’s public sector.

* BEEP (2) Question No: 682 / 2010 Darren Johnson What is the anticipated overall cost to retrofit 600 buildings through BEEP in 2012-15? Answer from the Mayor: This depends on a number of factors and therefore it would not be helpful to offer a specific number at this point.

* Waste reduction targets Question No: 683 / 2010 Darren Johnson How did you arrive at the target of 790kg of waste per household in your draft Municipal Waste Strategy? Answer from the Mayor: Waste reduction is by far the best action that can be taken to reduce the economic and environmental impacts of waste. However it is the most difficult of all actions to model and to measure. My waste reduction target was arrived at by assessing London’s current household waste reduction trend and sense checking it with the projected reduction rates considered achievable by the Recycle for London campaign through the Love Food Hate Waste and other campaigns.

There are a large number of known and unknown variables that affect household waste arisings and this makes it impossible to set a target with real certainty however the target of zero growth in total household waste arising is in my mind a plausible target to aim for. In my consultation however, I have sought the views of the Assembly and the functional bodies, and anyone else who wishes to comment on this target.

* Used cooking oil (1) Question No: 684 / 2010 Darren Johnson Why does your draft Municipal Waste Strategy have no proposals for the collection, refinement and utilisation of bio-diesel made from London’s waste cooking oil?

113 Answer from the Mayor: It has always been my intention to produce a waste strategy for London that is strategic and flexible. To this end my strategy focuses on outputs rather than inputs. I was concerned that there are good and bad examples of most if not all waste management activities and technologies and therefore to be prescriptive about technologies can encourage sub-optimal proposals and close the door to innovation and technological advancement. My strategy will assess approaches based on their economic and environmental outputs using a lifecycle greenhouse gas analysis for the environmental measurement.

This approach supports the efficient utilisation of bio-diesel made from London’s cooking oil and my support of this approach is given by my involvement with waste cooking oil to bio-diesel refiners through my Foodwaste to Fuel Alliance.

* Used cooking oil (2) Question No: 685 / 2010 Darren Johnson Why does your draft Municipal Waste Strategy not contain proposals for using bio-diesel converted from waste cooking oil in public transport and local authority owned vehicles? Answer from the Mayor: It has always been my intention to produce a waste strategy for London that is strategic and flexible. To this end my strategy focuses on outputs rather than inputs. I was concerned that there are good and bad examples of most if not all waste management activities and technologies and therefore to be prescriptive about technologies can encourage sub-optimal proposals and close the door to innovation and technological advancement. My strategy will assess approaches based on their economic and environmental outputs using a lifecycle greenhouse gas analysis for the environmental measurement.

My Foodwaste to Fuel Alliance is currently working with London based waste cooking oil to bio- diesel refiners and Transport for London to investigate the opportunity to run some of TfL’s vehicles on waste derived bio-diesel.

* Methane from landfill sites Question No: 686 / 2010 Darren Johnson Why does your draft Municipal Waste Strategy not contain specific policies to maximise the extraction of methane gas from landfill sites both operational and filled, for energy generation? Answer from the Mayor: It has always been my intention to produce a waste strategy for London that is strategic and flexible. To this end my strategy focuses on outputs rather than inputs. I was concerned that there are good and bad examples of most if not all waste management activities and technologies and therefore to be prescriptive about technologies can encourage sub-optimal proposals and close the door to innovation and technological advancement. My strategy will assess approaches based on their economic and environmental outputs using a lifecycle greenhouse gas analysis for the environmental measurement.

Methane is currently being extracted from London’s two operational landfill sites and is being used to generate energy. Policies to encourage the extraction of methane from closed landfill sites are beyond the scope of my Municipal Waste Management Strategy.

* 114 Plastic bag free London Question No: 687 / 2010 Darren Johnson In your draft Municipal Waste Strategy you propose to develop a roadmap towards a plastic bag free London working with London Councils. Can you explain how this roadmap will work? Answer from the Mayor: Over the last few years major retailers have made a concerted effort to reduce the amount of single use plastic bags that are being handed out to Londoners which has led to significant reductions in plastic bags handed out. In addition there are a number of localised campaigns such as the Greener upon Thames, Plastic Bag Free Campaign underway in Kew that are doing a fantastic job in reducing plastic bag use in their local area. I am keen to review all the activity that is underway to reduce unnecessary consumption of plastic bags and coordinate activity around achieving a plastic bag free London. It is my intention to have more detail on exactly how this will look for the public consultation of the strategy.

* Food waste collections Question No: 688 / 2010 Darren Johnson The target date by which local authorities were expected to provide a dry recyclables collection was a real success of the previous Municipal Waste Strategy. Will you consider setting a similar target date by which all local authorities are expected to provide separate food waste collections? Answer from the Mayor: In 2003, when my predecessor wrote his municipal waste management strategy, the world of waste was a very different place, some London boroughs collected more than three materials for recycling and others only collected one or two. Furthermore in some cases it was still cheaper to landfill than to recycle. This is changing and my modelling suggests that, due to landfill tax, recycling in most cases will be cheaper than disposal.

2010 brings its own challenges, public sector finances are tight and banks are more cautious to lend and these challenges require appropriate responses. That is why my strategy focuses on enabling the changes that need to be made rather than imposing them. Using the London Waste and Recycling Board to stimulate investment in infrastructure, developing the tools required to make the best decisions, providing communication support through Recycle for London and using my influence as Mayor to encourage industry is the appropriate approach for 2010.

However, we are eliciting views on these kinds of points through the consultation process and will see if there are specific views on this point.

* Textile waste Question No: 689 / 2010 Darren Johnson What specific policies or programmes are you bringing forward to effect a ‘paradigm shift from throwaway culture’, particularly with regard to the problem of cheap fashion clothes in landfill? Answer from the Mayor: My Municipal Waste Management Strategy contains policies and proposals relating to the management of municipal waste and although there are a number of proposals around reducing

115 packaging by improving product design, these are minimal as it is not the statutory focus of the strategy.

Textiles, as you know, contain a high embodied greenhouse gas content due to the energy intensive production of clothing and global distribution. My policies and proposals focus on the approach that needs to be taken to manage this material once it becomes waste. The textile recycling market is thriving, however capture of household textiles is still sporadic. Through the Recycle for London programme and our work with London Community Resource Network we will improve information for householders about how to recycle textiles in London. The LWaRB is considering a number of specific proposals in this area.

* Markets for recycled waste Question No: 690 / 2010 Darren Johnson What specific policies or programmes are you bringing forward to boost demand for recycled waste in London? Answer from the Mayor: My Municipal Waste Management Strategy for London focuses on maximising the economic and environmental opportunities waste presents London. My strategy also focuses on outputs rather than inputs. This approach encourages and promotes good quality recyclables, closed loop recycling and even upcycling and therefore boosting demand for recycled material. Setting authorities recycling targets in the waste strategy is the key way we are boosting production of recyclate.

The purpose of the London Waste and Recycling Board is to encourage and fund, amongst other things, recycling facilities in London that will help boost demand for recycled waste in London.

* Renewable Content Obligation Bill Question No: 691 / 2010 Darren Johnson Do you think this bill would benefit Londoners by obliging manufacturers to include a proportion of recycled materials such as glass, paper, metal and plastics in manufacture, which in turn would create demand for recycled materials? Answer from the Mayor: The Bill recognises that product design and manufacturing have a significant role to play in reducing waste and in helping to develop end-markets for use of recycled materials. This supports my Waste Strategy’s overriding concept of using our waste as a resource, helps to create demand for increased recycling from residents and businesses alike, and ultimately aids the diversion of waste from landfill.

The Bill would also help to increase the opportunities available for London’s residents and businesses to buy products containing recycled content, the market for which is already supported by the Mayor’s Green Procurement Code. *

116 Waste crisis in London (1) Question No: 692 / 2010 Darren Johnson Your environment advisor was recently reported as saying that London is facing a major waste crisis in the middle of the current decade. Can you provide a detailed explanation? Answer from the Mayor: I assume you are referring to the LetsRecycle.com article reporting on the SITA Trust celebration event on 1 February. Unfortunately my environment advisor has been slightly misrepresented in this article. My environment advisor was explaining that without immediate intervention London could face a dearth of waste treatment capacity by the middle of this decade. However the London Waste and Recycling Board, and others such as the boroughs, WRAP and the LDA, have the opportunity to intervene and I expect the market to respond to the challenge of London being self sufficient in waste management by 2031.

* Waste crisis in London (2) Question No: 693 / 2010 Darren Johnson Given the reported waste crisis due by the middle of the decade, has the London Waste and Recycling Board proved it is able to deliver the necessary waste infrastructure? Answer from the Mayor: I am confident that the London Waste and Recycling Board has the ability to significantly contribute to delivering the necessary infrastructure but it has always been clear that it cannot do this alone. There are a number of necessary elements to delivery that are out of the control of LWaRB such as planning and financing, and the level of funding available to LWaRB was never intended to deliver all of London’s waste infrastructure needs. In order to deliver the necessary infrastructure in London, London boroughs, waste producers, land-owners, financiers and industry need to align.

* Waste crisis in London (3) Question No: 694 / 2010 Darren Johnson Given the reported impending waste crisis in the middle of the decade, would you agree there is a strong argument for a single waste authority for London? Answer from the Mayor: Previous calls for a single waste authority were resoundly rebuffed by Government and vehemently opposed by the boroughs. There is therefore no reason to think that pursuing renewed calls for such a structure will deliver any result, but we can be sure that such an effort would be hugely time-consuming at a time when we need to be focused on the practicalities of ensuring a rapid shift out of landfill and an increase in recycling and other waste infrastructure in London.

I have stated clearly that we need to take a collaborative approach with the boroughs on a range of issues, and waste is no exception. The London Waste and Recycling Board, which came out of the debate around a single waste authority, is a great opportunity for the GLA and boroughs to work together to deliver a step change in how London manages its waste. This is both through the projects it funds as well as through a joint view of what is needed in London and a brokerage service to help deliver that. Increasing our recycling rates and moving to our

117 proposed zero waste to landfill target will not be easy tasks, but we will only achieve this through collaborative working.

* Food to fuel alliance Question No: 695 / 2010 Darren Johnson Is your Food to Fuel Alliance on track to deliver at least 5 exemplar food projects by 2012? Can you provide an update? Answer from the Mayor: Yes my Food waste to Fuel Alliance is currently on track to deliver five exemplar food waste to fuel projects by 2012. My Alliance is currently involved in four projects at varying degrees of completion and it has a handful of other partners interested in being involved in a fifth project.

The nature of the projects being developed include potential for use of bio-diesel in public transport, bio-methane production from food waste, jet fuel from food waste and the potential to link electric vehicles and anaerobic digestion. Due to the commercially sensitive nature of these projects I am unable to give you any details of these projects at this stage.

* Open source software Question No: 696 / 2010 Darren Johnson How are the GLA and functional bodies implementing the Government’s open source action plan, recently re-issued by the Cabinet Office? Answer from the Mayor: TfL TfL acknowledges the potential for making significant savings, particularly if the Cabinet Office Open Source Action Plan is adopted successfully across the wider public sector. TfL eagerly awaits further direction as it emerges from Government.

In the meantime, TfL already adopts a policy of re-use across its entire information technology estate, recognising the Mayor’s policy of delivering the best value for money for Londoners.

With regard to open standards, TfL is leading a Europe-wide group defining geographical information system standards for transport organisations. TfL actively researches best practice and has already made a significant investment in open source software e.g. Linux.

Core GLA The GLA has led the way in the use of Open Source Technology. Much of the back office infrastructure of City Hall and the entire web-systems infrastructure is built using this technology.

The GLA IT Unit assess technologies on their ability to meet open standards and offer value for money, an approach which has favoured open source solutions.

The new GLA web-site, the data store for London and the new climate change adaptation web- site have all been built entirely from open source software components.

LDA The Agency is committed to using open source code in new procurements, however, the LDA has not implemented any open source software to this point. Most of the Agency’s software 118 development over the past 2 years has built on proprietary applications already in use and this includes the Agency’s web development.

At this point the LDA is examining the possibility of converging on applications support with TfL.

MPA Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

LFEPA Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010:

MPA

The MPA has achieved efficiencies from increased use of open source based solutions in recent years. As part of their ongoing programme of continuous improvement, they review opportunities for use of open source software. Achieving best value with open source software remains challenging due to the dimensions and nature of MPA business, as well as the environment it operates in.

LFEPA

LFEPA are currently implementing an open source software product, to be used for departmental planning purposes. They are fully committed to examining opportunities for the use of open source software where it can be demonstrated that this software provides the best value. However, they need to consider the implications of integrating such software into our infrastructure. LFEPA systems such as mobilising, HR and Finance rely upon a very high degree of integration. There will no doubt be opportunities for the introduction of open source software in the future and consideration of such will become a business as usual activity.

* London Datastore Question No: 697 / 2010 Darren Johnson Will you ensure that when you release publications such as draft strategies, the data represented in charts, graphs and tables are entered into the Datastore? Answer from the Mayor: Our aim is to ensure that when we release publications or strategies the supporting data will be published in the Datastore. The Intelligence Team are leading the work to consider how the data supporting our publications and strategies can be presented, and what operational processes need to be in place across the Policy and Intelligence Teams to ensure that this happens efficiently and in a timely manner. In this transitional phase we may require a short period of time from publication strategy or other documents, before the supporting datasets are loaded into the DataStore. In addition the Intelligence Team and other GLA Officers are also working pro-actively to identify and publish other datasets held by the GLA and across the GLA functional bodies on an ongoing basis.

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119 Outer London Commission final report Question No: 698 / 2010 Darren Johnson You originally stated that this report would be published in autumn 2009. When can we expect the final report, and what is the reason for the delay? Answer from the Mayor: The final report is in preparation and will be completed as soon as possible.

Publication has been delayed to take proper account of the wealth of evidence submitted to the Commission.

* Violence against women action plan Question No: 699 / 2010 Darren Johnson Having published your call for action in April 2009, you originally stated that the action plan would be published in autumn 2009. What is the reason for the delay? Answer from the Mayor: I wanted to ensure that all London partners were fully signed up to my violence against women and girls strategy. Following a three month consultation, we took on board feedback from key partners around establishing violence against women governance structures before publishing the final strategy and action plan.

We have now established a London Violence Against Women and Girls Panel. All panel members have had the opportunity to approve and sign off the action plan. I am confident that securing this level of buy in will ensure that the strategy is both realistic and deliverable.

* Environment direction of travel statement Question No: 700 / 2010 Darren Johnson You originally stated that this would be published in spring 2009, but it was only published in July 2009. What was the reason for the delay? Answer from the Mayor: I believe that by ‘Environment Direction of Travel’ statement, you refer to the document 'Leading to a Greener London'. This document took longer to publish than originally announced because it was decided that the report should cover the environmental ambitions across the GLA Group. Therefore identifying, testing, agreeing and signing off the targets and the document took longer than the ambitious time frame set for the task.

* Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy Question No: 701 / 2010 Darren Johnson You originally stated that the draft strategy for Assembly consultation would be published in the last quarter of 2008, but it was only published in February 2010. What was the reason for the delay?

120 Answer from the Mayor: There were a number of reasons for the delay in publishing the Assembly draft of my Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy, which as stated in the ‘Leading to a greener London’ report, was due out in Autumn 2009.

Since the election I have undertaken an assessment of existing policies and programmes to ensure they were fit for purpose. We have also undertaken a review of the evidence base and data for the Strategy. Priority has been placed on delivering new programmes such as the homes energy efficiency programme and low carbon zones. In addition to this we needed to coordinate the publication of my other documents and strategies, especially Leading to a Greener London and the Revision of the London Plan.

* Climate Change Adaptation Strategy Question No: 702 / 2010 Darren Johnson You published your draft strategy for Assembly consultation in winter 2008, but have only just published your draft strategy for public consultation in February 2010. What was the reason for the delay? Answer from the Mayor: The publication of the Public Consultation Draft of the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy was significantly delayed by the postponement of the launch of the latest generation of the climate projections (UKCP09). These were meant to be launched in the Autumn of 2008, but weren’t actually publicly released by DEFRA until July 2009. I decided to delay the publication of the strategy so that it would be the first with the new projections, rather than the last without. My officers have spent the remaining time analysing the projections and working with stakeholders to refine the actions.

* Municipal Waste Management Strategy Question No: 703 / 2010 Darren Johnson You originally stated that the draft strategy for public consultation would be published in June 2009, but it was only published in January 2010. What was the reason for the delay? Answer from the Mayor: There were a number of reasons for the delay in publishing the Assembly draft of my waste strategy including the need to review our evidence base, gather more data and model a preferred approach to managing London municipal waste. In addition to this we needed to coordinate the publication of my other documents and strategies, especially Leading to a Greener London and the Revision of the London Plan. The original intention, supported by most of London’s waste stakeholders – was to combine municipal and commercial and industrial waste policies into a single document. However a change in legal position meant that this had to be revised.

* Air Quality Strategy Question No: 704 / 2010 Darren Johnson You originally stated that the draft strategy would be published by mid 2009, later revised to the summer of 2009, but it was only published in October 2009. What was the reason for the

121 delay? Answer from the Mayor: My draft Air Quality Strategy was published for consultation with the Assembly and functional bodies slightly later than originally anticipated in order to provide more time for officials to discuss potential measures with stakeholders, including central Government.

* Refugee Integration Strategy Question No: 705 / 2010 Darren Johnson You originally stated that this strategy would be published by spring 2009, but it was only published in December 2009. What was the reason for the delay? Answer from the Mayor: The completion of London Enriched took place during the establishment of the London Strategic Migration Partnership and its sister body, the Migrant and Refugee Advisory Panel. It is imperative for the successful delivery of this strategy that the views of members of the Partnership and their commitment to help deliver specific actions were secured before we launched.

The fact that the launch took place in December does not detract from its implementation and impact. *

Evaluation of London Plan energy policies Question No: 706 / 2010 Darren Johnson You originally stated that this report would be published by September 2009, but it was only published in December 2009. What was the reason for the delay? Answer from the Mayor: The delay in publication was due to focussing on other priority programmes, in particular the delivery of low carbon zones and the homes energy efficiency programme over the summer. The report has fed in to the revisions of the London Plan, as per the original intention.

* Thames Estuary Airport report Question No: 707 / 2010 Darren Johnson You originally stated that this report would be published in March 2009, but it was only published in October 2009. What was the reason for the delay? Answer from the Mayor: This is a highly complex area of work and you should also consider the fact that this study was carried out on a 'pro bono' basis by Douglas Oakervee at no cost to taxpayers.

* Davos Question No: 709 / 2010 John Biggs Apart from meeting three people, attending a dinner and a lunch and a reception, at the last of 122 which you ‘spoke’, what was the pupose of your visit to Davos? If it had been held in Cricklewood would you have bothered to attend? Answer from the Mayor: Davos is recognised as the most prestigious and important global economic forum in the calendar.

Not only does it attract politicians and highly renowned economists but also many Global CEOs and Chairs from a multitude of sectors. This year there were speakers of the calibre of Dr Josef Ackermann, Bill Clinton, Kofi Annan, Martin Wolf, Bill and Melinda Gates.

This year and of most significance for London were the number of leading figures from the financial services sectors.

I had a number of bi-lateral meetings whilst at Davos with the Global Chairs and Chief Executives of Financial Institutions, three of which were pre-booked. However, I also had on the spot meetings with at least a dozen more. The dinner I attended was with the New York based board of a large London employer.

I delivered a speech to an audience of over 200 leading businesspeople, policy makers and economists. This speech attracted media attention from across the globe ensuring London is still seen as the business capital of the world and a city with serious investment potential. I conducted many TV interviews aimed at a business audience highlighting that London is open for business and intends maintaining its number one position as the place to do business. I concluded my attendance at Davos by attending a lunch of British business leaders.

My mission at Davos was to speak to as big an audience of businesspeople from across the globe with major operations in London as possible. It was the perfect forum in which to ensure global businesses remain committed to London so that we retain jobs, increase investment and maintain the significant levels of taxation provided by the financial and business services sectors in London.

If such a forum were to take place in Cricklewood, I would of course be delighted to travel there. *

North London Line Question No: 715 / 2010 Murad Qureshi Can you clarify the situation regarding the signaling upgrade to the North London Line? Answer from the Mayor: Work is continuing on the London Overground, and the four trains per hour service will be introduced on the Willesden to Richmond stretch in May 2011, as planned. As with many complex railway engineering projects, Network Rail has rescheduled some of the work, though not to the detriment of the completion date.

The signalling upgrade for the line will be delivered in stages: • The next planned closure is due to take place between 20 February and 1 June, to complete the civil engineering workstream and undertake some of the signalling work. • The Sunday closures will continue into 2011, enabling the signalling to be upgraded at different sections of the Richmond–Stratford line (the entire line is not always closed).

Any future closures required in the winter will be communicated once details are confirmed with the Rail Industry. TfL and Network Rail have a comprehensive communications programme to ensure that passengers and the local community are kept up to date with plans for the line 123 *

Carbon Footprint of Londoners Question No: 716 / 2010 Murad Qureshi How does your strategy deal with the disparity in carbon emissions between wealthy and poorer boroughs? Answer from the Mayor:

CO2 emissions in London boroughs are dependent upon activity across three sectors; homes, workplaces and transport. The Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy therefore deals with CO2 emissions on a sector-by-sector basis across the London boroughs.

Specific programmes within those sectors will address issues associated with poverty, including the Homes Energy Efficiency Programme (HEEP) which will help households to cut energy costs through free energy efficiency measures at the point of delivery, as well as working towards maximising the income of fuel poor households by including benefits checks as part of the easy measures package.

* Carbon Allowance Question No: 717 / 2010 Murad Qureshi Would you support personal carbon allowances for Londoners? Answer from the Mayor: The Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy, published this month, sets out how I aim to reduce London’s CO2 emissions by 60% on 1990 levels by 2025. CO2 emissions will be reduced on a sector-by-sector basis through large-scale programmes including the Homes Energy Efficiency Programme for households, the Buildings Energy Efficiency Programme for public sector buildings, and through a target to have 25 per cent of London’s energy supplied through decentralised systems by 2025. The Strategy focuses on delivering actual programmes that achieve reductions rather than setting personal allowances for individuals.

* Air Quality Question No: 718 / 2010 Murad Qureshi How has the car scrappage scheme, launched last May, helped improve air quality in London? Answer from the Mayor: The GLA has not carried out modelling of the effects of the car scrappage scheme in London, as it is virtually impossible to assess the use on London’s roads of cars that have been bought through the scheme.

3 bus Question No: 723 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross It is clear from TfL’s own figures that complaints from disabled passengers on route 3 have not reduced over recent years as they have on other routes. What measures are TfL planning to take 124 to tackle this? Answer from the Mayor: TfL does not record whether a passenger making a complaint is disabled. The figures you refer to showed complaints ‘about the driver’ from all passengers, not solely those with disabilities.

As you are aware, all new bus drivers are required to gain a bus driver BTEC qualification within their first year of service. By the end of 2005, all existing drivers had gained the qualification. Disability awareness training is part of the BTEC qualification. All drivers must achieve the BTEC qualification within one year of starting work. TfL has also produced a DVD training resource tool to assist operators deliver this aspect of the training.

Since September 2008, there has also been a requirement for all bus drivers to receive a minimum of seven hours refresher training each year, as part of the new national ‘Driver CPC’ scheme.

TfL continues to expect all operators to ensure drivers exhibit high standards of service to all passengers, and they will raise any specific complaints about route 3 (or any other route) with the operator. You should bring any specific issues to TfL’s attention.

Taxi touting Question No: 724 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Representatives from London’s licensed black taxi trade have been in contact with me to raise concerns about the ‘satellite’ licensed minicab offices which have been set up in some late night venues. The drivers believe that the creation of these offices has resulted in minicab operators standing on the street with clipboards touting for business, which could provide a cover for unlicensed drivers. What measures are in place to monitor these offices to ensure that they operate appropriately and meet their aim of provide a safe way home for customers? Answer from the Mayor: A number of West End entertainment venues have set up private hire operator offices within their venues to provide their customers with a quick, convenient and safe option to get home. This is clearly a key priority for TfL and, when operated correctly, these offices form a key aspect of the Safer Travel at Night initiative. However, both TfL and I agree that these offices must operate correctly just like any private hire operator on the high street and bookings must be made inside the venue. Any booking taken on street is illegal and constitutes touting. TfL is rightly committed to taking the strongest possible action against such activity but must have sufficient evidence that will stand up to scrutiny in the Courts should the operator challenge their decision.

TfL wrote to all licensed operators and venues over the Christmas period to extend the “One Strike and Out” policy I introduced for private hire drivers convicted of touting and any operator found to be taking bookings on street will now face immediate revocation.

TfL fund 68 Police officers that form the Cab Enforcement Unit. They, and officers from TfL actively undertake both covert and visible enforcement activities. Any operator found to be operating outside of the regulations is subject to license suspension or revocation.

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125 Taxi touting 2 Question No: 725 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Representatives from London’s licensed black taxi trade have raised concerns about ‘satellite’ minicab offices having been set up in venues such as tobacconists’ kiosks and 24-hour supermarkets in central London. What are the criteria for venues wishing to set up a satellite office on site and are there any restrictions? How are such premises monitored to ensure that unlicensed cabs are not using these premises as a cover? Answer from the Mayor: The criteria for any private hire operator to become licensed from within a venue are the same at that for centres operating from their own premises. Since late last year any application to licence a centre operating from within a venue requires a formal meeting with TfL, where the venue manager/owner will be issued detailed guidance notes. TfL officers ensure venue managers/owners fully understand the requirements and their obligations regarding managing such operations. Key criteria for these operations include

• Bookings being taken on the premises; • the use of only licensed private hire drivers; • responsibility for maintaining clear records of driver licenses, insurance and licensed vehicle details and; • maintaining clear records off all journey bookings from the operating centre.

TfL has a dedicated team that undertake scheduled and routine compliance activity of such operations in the same way as all other licensed operating centres. In addition, such venues are regularly monitored covertly by the Cab Enforcement team, and TfL, who take any complaint that such operations may be used as a cover for unlicensed activity very seriously and will investigate and take the appropriate action in all such cases.

Taxi touting 3 Question No: 726 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Representatives from London’s licensed black taxi trade have been in touch with me to raise complaints about the illegal ‘ranking’ of private hire minicabs outside late night venues in Central London. Will you arrange for representatives from the PCO to discuss this issue with the black cab drivers, identify and target relevant locations? Answer from the Mayor: Following previous concerns raised by the taxi trade regarding touting and other related activity (including illegal parking by private hire vehicles outside late night venues) a specific multi agency working party attended by senior officers from TfL, the Cab Enforcement Unit, representatives from both the taxi and private hire trade and Local Authorities such as Westminster Council was established to focus resources on key locations and problems.

The group has met on a regular basis and has proved to be a successful forum for sharing intelligence on touting hot spots, identifying parking and late night taxi rank issues and problems, and ensuring Cab Enforcement Unit and TfL resources are focused in the right areas for enforcement activity.

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126 Northern Line Closures Question No: 727 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross How many full and partial weekend closures does TfL believe are necessary to complete the planned upgrade works? Answer from the Mayor: Under the PPP, Tube Lines are allocated a set number of ‘lost customer hours’. Tube Lines have currently requested a very high level of access to the Northern line to complete its upgrade, which is well beyond what TfL believes to be necessary.

Tube Lines’ programme, as TfL currently understands it, includes 82 weekend closures, including 20 full line closures, 30 closures between Kennington and Morden and 15 closures from Stockwell northwards (including both the central and northern branches). This is in addition to 16 months of late evening weekday closures (Monday–Thursday) of the whole line, north of Stockwell.

This is clearly a very substantial level of access, and it is not clear how Tube Lines could fully utilise closures that cover the whole of the central and northern sections of the line, especially during the installation phase.

TfL continues to urge Tube Lines to take a more customer-focused approach, and to come up with alternative ways of upgrading the line, such as better off-site test tracks, better simulation and less intrusive testing techniques. This includes reducing the impact of closures through reducing the amount of the line being worked on at a particular time, which would decrease the overall number of closures for a particular area.

* Mid route bus driver changeovers Question No: 728 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross How long should passengers aboard routes like the 188 and the 1 be expected to wait on a stationary bus while drivers changeover mid route? Answer from the Mayor: TfL would expect for driver changeovers to be conducted smoothly, and for passengers to wait for no more than two minutes. *

78 Bus (1) Question No: 729 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross After a short period of improvement I am now receiving renewed complaints about the 78 bus, particularly that bus journeys are frequently being terminated at Aldgate and Peckham Rye rather than Shoreditch and Nunhead, often with little notice being given to passengers. This is having a knock on effect on those waiting to board services from the ends of the route. What steps are being taken to address these ongoing performance problems on the route? Answer from the Mayor: The routeing taken by the 78 was particularly disrupted by the heavy snow falls in December and January, and there were occasions when it was necessary to terminate the route at Peckham Rye. Prior to this and as you say, TfL’s monitoring showed that the performance of the service

127 had greatly improved. TfL expects the performance to improve again now that the weather has improved and it will be working closely with the operator to ensure this.

* 78 Bus (2) Question No: 730 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross I have received worrying reports from Nunhead that 78 bus drivers are telling passengers that the route is due to be converted from single to double decker and that it will no longer serve Nunhead. Can you assure Nunhead residents that they will not be losing this vital bus service? Answer from the Mayor: TfL discussed this issue with your office on 9 February and has advised that it is currently consulting stakeholders on a new contract to operate the 78, but plan no changes to the structure of the route. TfL is considering whether it would be justifiable to replace the single deck buses currently used with double deck buses.

* P12 Bus Question No: 731 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Parents and children from St Francesca Cabrini, Fairlawn, Prendergast and Kingsdale Schools all rely on the Honor Oak Park end of the P12 bus route. In recent weeks I have received complaints about the buses being terminated early at Brenchley Gardens around the end of the school day making parents late to collect their children and often leaving them with a long wait for a bus back home. In one case parents were even driven to stage a sit in until the driver relented and drove on so they could pick up their small children! Will you take steps to ensure that efforts to regulate the P12 service in the middle of the route are balanced up against the need to provide a full service to the end of the route, particularly at the beginning and end of the school day? Answer from the Mayor: From 19 November 2009 until 2 February 2010 it was necessary to divert route P12 owing to the closure of Ivydale Road for road works. Diversions have the potential to disrupt bus services, and so route controllers must do everything possible to maintain an even service for the majority of passengers. This will mean that there may be occasions where it is necessary to terminate a bus prior to its usual destination, so it can be sent to the section of route where passengers have been waiting longest.

TfL will continue to work with the operator of the P12 to identify options to allow the service to best withstand the effects of road works. This will include ensuring the operator remains aware of the impacts of terminating buses prior to their usual destination.

* Police cuts in Southwark Question No: 732 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross What will the impact of your cut of 455 Metropolitan Police Officers by 2012/13 be on the number of Police Officers serving Southwark?

128 Answer from the Mayor: I do not accept the question’s premise as in May 2008, there were 844 officers for Southwark and by 2012/13 it is anticipated that there will be 918 officers.

* Police cuts in Lambeth Question No: 733 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross What will the impact of your cut of 455 Metropolitan Police Officers by 2012/13 be on the number of Police Officers serving Lambeth? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Response provided on 8 March 2010: In May 2008 there were 944 officers for Lambeth, and in 2012/13 we anticipate the number of officers to be 996.

Toyota Prius - Private Hire Vehicles Question No: 734 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross In light of the possible recall of Toyota Prius vehicles to repair the problem with the brakes, can we be assured that if necessary the licenses of those being used as Private Hire vehicles will be suspended until proof of repair is provided to ensure the safety of all passengers and drivers in London? Answer from the Mayor: As soon as TfL became aware of the problem they immediately issued very clear guidance and advice to the owners of all affected models and will be ensuring that the required modifications have been made by Toyota. TfL will continue to monitor the situation very closely and if it becomes necessary to suspend use of the vehicles for private hire then it will do so.

* Horns Tavern, Knights Hill Question No: 735 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Will you encourage TfL (Bus priority team) to work with Lambeth traffic engineers to adopt their proposed solution to the longstanding problems of unloading outside the Horns Tavern on Knights Hill? Answer from the Mayor: TfL Surface Transport is working closely with Lambeth officers to adopt a solution which will address the on-going unloading issues and minimise conflict between loading vehicles and buses at the Landmark Pub. A scheme is being developed which reduces the length of the existing northbound bus cage on Knight’s Hill to enable installation of double yellow lines on the approach to the stop to allow delivery vehicles to service the Horn’s Tavern Pub. The project sponsor and highway authority is the London Borough of Lambeth and they are responsible for consultation and implementation of the scheme. *

129 149 Bus Question No: 736 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross What is the current peak hour capacity of the 149 bus? What will it be after the bendy buses are replaced with double deckers? Answer from the Mayor: In the peaks, the current articulated service provides 1,200 passenger spaces per hour and the double decks will provide 1,190 per hour.

The review undertaken prior to the new service specification identified that there was some spare capacity on route 149. If it had been retendered with articulated buses then frequencies would have been reduced.

* 63 Bus Question No: 737 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross In answer to my MQT 0245/2009 in December you said that you do not believe “that there is sufficient demand to justify the extension of route 63 to Honor Oak.” Do you agree with me that once the first phase of the East London Line Extension opens in a few months time that demand to travel to Honor Oak Station will increase and that therefore TfL should reconsider this proposal? Answer from the Mayor: Demand at Honor Oak station is forecast to increase due to the opening of the East London Line. However, there is not expected to be a sufficient increase from the Peckham Rye area to justify an extension of route 63, particularly as route P12 provides the requested link for many potential passengers. TfL will be monitoring the effects of the opening of the line on travel demand and, if there is a significant increase in demand from the Peckham area, will then re- examine this suggestion.

* Bus Countdown (1) Question No: 738 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross How many bus stops are there in London? How many of these will be fitted with new countdown signs by summer 2012? Answer from the Mayor: There are currently 19,134 bus stops in London of which 13,467 are fitted with a shelter. TfL are planning to increase the number of Countdown signs at Bus Shelters from the current 2000 to 2500.

We are currently engaging with London boroughs on the locations of the new signs, with all boroughs maintaining their current number of signs, or in most cases, receiving an increase of countdown signs.

Engagement with boroughs and relevant pan-London stakeholders regarding final stop locations will close in November 2010, at which point the allocation of signs for each borough will be finalised.

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130 Bus Countdown (2) Question No: 739 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Please provide a list of how many on-street bus countdown signs you are proposing to allocate to each London borough. Answer from the Mayor: Please see my response to MQ738 / 2010

TfL have distributed a Borough-specific list to each Borough for review.

Any consolidated list is an extremely large data-file that is difficult to manage and would be best discussed in person, and I understand that such a meeting is being arranged.

* Windrush Square Question No: 740 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross I welcome the development of the new Windrush Square, a new top class open space for the centre of Brixton and I want to make sure it serves its intended purpose - that is to provide a much needed focal point and pleasant environment for the local community. How you will ensure that the space is properly managed and kept free from crime and anti-social behaviour? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Response provided on 8 March 2010:

I am pleased that you welcome the development of the new Windrush Square. It is intended to benefit the community it serves. In terms of interventions, the immediate increased police presence and improved lighting will assist surveillance and perceptions of safety. CCTV for the square has been integrated into the wider town centre management arrangements with the explicit consent of Lambeth. The potential future management of the square through a Community Trust will safeguard its long term development and the boroughs events programme will ensure local businesses, community groups and entrepreneurs periodically utilise the space. Furthermore, the Ritzy Café and refurbishment of Raleigh Hall will create activity at the edges of the square ensuring the space is overlooked, whilst the main area improves pedestrian movement and visibility across the site. All of these combined factors will assist in reducing crime and antisocial behaviour, through the heightened interaction of the general public and community officers.

Southwark Station platform ticket (1) Question No: 741 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross I was very disappointed with your answer to 221/2010, and, with regard to the ‘platform’ fee to walk though Southwark Station from Waterloo East, which is publicised as an interchange at both stations, please answer this question from a passenger: Why would someone purchase a rail ticket, travel legally on the train and then try to travel illegally on the tube?

131 Answer from the Mayor: I have no doubt that the passengers who write to you on this topic are honest citizens with no intention to defraud the system. However, I am sure you will agree that TfL should do all it can to reduce the potential for ticketless travel whilst ensuring that the vast majority of passengers can move through the system quickly and easily.

In some cases, such as at Southwark, the arrangements may not have been ideal but TfL will, from 27 February, implement a system whereby customers who are not using (or who are unable to use) Oyster as a part of their National Rail journey can use an Oyster card to pass through the gates free of charge.

* Southwark Station platform ticket (2) Question No: 742 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross In relation to the 20p ‘platform’ charge at Southwark Station for passengers who have arrived at Waterloo East by train, regarding your fear that not charging the fee will encourage fare evasion, please answer this question from a bemused commuter: Most tube stations have gates, how would a passenger seeking to avoid paying a tube fare manage to exit the station at their destination? Most tube stations have gates, how would a passenger seeking to avoid paying a tube fare manage to exit the station at their destination? Answer from the Mayor: While it is the case that the vast majority of Underground stations are gated, there are a number where customers can enter, travel and leave the Tube network without having paid for their Tube journey. Allowing people to enter Southwark station without having a valid ticket increases the chance that someone could travel without paying.

* Southwark Station platform ticket (3) Question No: 743 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross How was the 20p sum arrived at for this charge? Answer from the Mayor: TfL reviewed the charge recently and because of the unique situation at Southwark decided to reduce the cost of a platform ticket from £1 to 20p. TfL considers this to be a reasonable nominal charge for people without a valid ticket wishing to use Southwark as a shortcut.

From 27 February TfL will implement a system whereby customers who are not currently using (or who are currently unable to use) Oyster as a part of their National Rail journey can use an Oyster card to pass through the gates free of charge. TfL is therefore encouraging all customers to use an Oyster card to remove the requirement to purchase a platform ticket in future.

Southwark Station platform ticket (4) Question No: 744 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross How much revenue do TfL anticipate charging customers 20p to walk from Waterloo East to Southwark tube station will raise?

132 Answer from the Mayor: The arrangement at Southwark is not aimed at raising revenue, it is in place to reduce the risk of fare evasion. Most customers are already able to use Southwark station as a shortcut free of charge, (from 27 February this will be extended to include anyone holding an Oyster card), so the revenue raised will be minimal.

* Southwark Station platform ticket (5) Question No: 745 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross To date, how many platform tickets have been sold to customers wishing to walk from Waterloo East to Southwark station since the charge was introduced? Answer from the Mayor: The average number of platform tickets sold to allow customers to walk from Waterloo East to Southwark is around 60 per day.

* Southwark Station platform ticket (6) Question No: 746 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross To date, how many platform tickets have been sold to customers wishing to walk from Southwark Station to Waterloo East since the charge was introduced? Answer from the Mayor: Since the charge was introduced, the average number of platform tickets sold to allow customers to walk from Southwark to Waterloo East is around 60 per day.

* Southwark Station platform ticket (7) Question No: 747 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Prior to the introduction of the platform charge between Waterloo East and Southwark stations, how many people were apprehended for fare evasion when changing from Waterloo East onto the underground at Southwark? Answer from the Mayor: Given the difficulty of identifying those who have entered or left the system fraudulently at Southwark it is not possible to answer this question. The intention of the new system is simply to enforce the proper controls on access to the Tube system and therefore reduce the risk of fare evasion.

* Tanfield Avenue, NW2 Question No: 748 / 2010 Navin Shah What measures are TfL looking at to reduce road traffic casualties and bus journey times along Tanfield Avenue NW2?

133 Answer from the Mayor: The London Borough of Brent is the highway authority for Tanfield Avenue. Through the Local Implementation Plan (LIP) process, TfL provides funding to each London borough for improvements to its transport network. This includes works to reduce road traffic casualties and improve bus journey times.

Tanfield Avenue has been prioritised by the London Borough of Brent for LIP funding in 2010/11. The borough will investigate improvements to bus journey times while maintaining an emphasis on road casualty reduction.

TfL has worked closely with officers from Brent to develop proposals for Tanfield Avenue as part of a package of corridor improvements to bus route 182. Implementation of any schemes rests with Brent as the local highway authority and TfL will continue to assist the borough in this regard. *

SNT Base Question No: 749 / 2010 Navin Shah Although the new Safer Neighbourhood Team base for Harlesden and Kensal Green wards, opened in Station Road NW10 last month, residents have been less than pleased to be greeted by a digital screen informing them “this police office has no front desk and is not manned”. A. What is the point of unmanned police offices? B. How are residents meant to be reassured by the opening of an unmanned police office? C. How many SNT bases in London actually have a front desk? Please list. D. What has been the total expenditure on unmanned police offices, both under your Mayoralty and the previous? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Response provided on 8 March 2010: I have received responses to your the questions regarding the new Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) based in Station Road NW10 from the MPA/MPS. The points below address the points you have raised: a) Safer Neighbourhoods Bases allow for police officers and PCSOs to work at the heart of our communities. This will increase their patrolling time and their ability to tackle the issues that matter most locally. b) Residents prefer to see their Police Officers and PCSOs patrolling the streets and interacting with the public, rather than working inside an office. c) The MPS safer neighbourhoods programme has delivered two SN bases with dual position front counters - Kirkland House, Harrow and Fishmongers Arms, Haringey. The programme has also delivered, or is in the process of delivering, nearly 60 SNBs with reception area facilities where the public can be received before going into a meeting room (full front counter services are not delivered in these facilities).

In addition, a new front counter facility has been provided at Copperfield House, Bromley, to replace the facility at Penge police station and provide full front counter services. The MPS has

134 a number of SNBs being planned or in the initial stages of development where it is looking at the provision of front counters within those bases to deliver full services. d) The MPS does not have the financial breakdown in the detail as requested.

* Ticket Offices Question No: 750 / 2010 Navin Shah Have you decided which 144 ticket offices you wish to close? Are you able to reassure residents of Outer London boroughs that they will not feel the biggest effects of this move, given lower passenger numbers per station? Answer from the Mayor: I have made a very firm commitment that all London Underground stations, including those in Outer London areas, will continue to have staff available to assist customers whenever services are running.

* Harrow Road Police Station Question No: 751 / 2010 Navin Shah Following his visit to Harrow Police Station last month, David Hanson MP, the minister for policing has agreed with many, including the former borough commander, that the station is not fit for purpose. Now the MPA has a new chair, are we likely to see the already secured funds for the Estate Strategy actually spent enabling police officers? Answer from the Mayor: There are proposals in place to modernise the police buildings in Harrow to support operational policing through the provision of a patrol base and custody centre, which will replace some of the existing accommodation.

The Chair of the MPA is committed to driving the MPA Estate Strategy forward, despite the downturn in the property market. Steps have been taken to secure the required capital to enable this to happen. The proposals for Harrow and indeed the rest of London have been the subject of recent review, and will now be pushed forward as appropriate. *

Bus Lay-by Works Question No: 752 / 2010 Navin Shah Does the Mayor join me in condemning Brent Highway’s commencement of bus lay-by works on Chamberlayne Road, NW10, five days before public consultation on the scheme ended? Answer from the Mayor: I understand that preparatory work by BT to the Chamberlayne Road bus lay-by was started in error. The London Borough of Brent has confirmed that BT has stopped site work and will not implement the scheme in its current form until the proposal has been fully reviewed.

*

135 Reduction in Bus Services Question No: 753 / 2010 Navin Shah Thank you for your answer to question 202/2010. Where do you anticipate reductions in bus services due to the creation of new rail capacity, beyond Crossrail? Answer from the Mayor: TfL is undertaking further detailed modelling work to understand the implications of planned infrastructure and land use changes in London until 2031. One output of this will be to indicate where bus demand will change. TfL will be able to provide more information once this is available in the late Summer 2010.

* Bus Subsidy Question No: 754 / 2010 Navin Shah Thank you for your answer to question 202/2010. Do you acknowledge the role of subsidy in enabling you to make the statement “The average fare on buses in London remain one of the cheapest in England”? Would you accept these are somewhat flippant words when responding to a question on your decision to increase fares, a decision that will hit the poorest Londoners hardest? Answer from the Mayor: I do not accept that the statement “The average fare on buses in London remain one of the cheapest in England” is in any way flippant. It is a fact.

I did not take the decision to increase fares lightly and I am happy to acknowledge the role of subsidy in supporting the bus network.

Fares have had to increase to ensure TfL’s budget remains in balance given the level of government grant and the costs of maintaining services and investment as well as the increased financial pressures caused by the collapse of Metronet, the recession and the politically motivated fares policy of the previous Mayor.

* Station Upgrades Question No: 755 / 2010 Navin Shah In reference to question 201/2010, please note I stated ‘For the success of Intensification Areas in Outer London it is critical that improvements of public transport hubs are fully funded.’ Do you believe s106 agreement funds will be great enough to fully fund large capacity boosting work at key stations for intensification areas, for example the now cancelled plans to boost capacity and access at Harrow-on-the-Hill that was costed at £18-20m? At which point of economic recovery will this be so? Answer from the Mayor: TfL has funds in its Business Plan to significantly increase the capacity of the Metropolitan Lines which serve Harrow on the Hill. This will increase capacity on the line by almost 50 per cent by 2016. However, TfL does not have funding for improvements to Harrow on the Hill Station.

A number of areas were designated as Intensification Areas in the replacement London Plan, and Harrow town centre is one of these. The designation of Intensification Areas will need to be tested by the relevant boroughs through the infrastructure planning process as set out in

136 national planning guidance. This will require an assessment of what additional transport capacity will be required to meet demand, and will help inform negotiations with developers on appropriate s106 contributions to meet demand created by their development. Until this work is underway, it is not possible to know whether s106 agreement funds will be great enough to fully fund the required works.

With regard to Harrow town centre, the London Borough of Harrow has already adopted a Planning Brief for this area and this proposes a new transport interchange at Harrow on the Hill station. The deliverability of these proposals is dependent upon economic viability and the availability of sites for development. Since the brief was adopted, no new sites have come forward for development in the town centre, and on this basis it would be difficult to predict when private sector contributions will become available in the future.

* Intensification Areas Question No: 756 / 2010 Navin Shah Does the designation of an ‘intensification area’ within the London Plan have any direct financial consequences, in terms of grant from any GLA functional body, at all? Answer from the Mayor: Spatial designations in the London Plan, such as Intensification Areas, provide a framework to co-ordinate infrastructure investment from within the GLA group and more widely with that from other public, private and voluntary sector partners. The London Development Agency and Transport for London take into account such designations when considering their priorities for short, medium and long term investment.

* Transport for London/Network Rail/Train Operating Companies Question No: 757 / 2010 Navin Shah Please list successful examples of the “influence to secure improvements” (Q 201/2010) TfL has exerted over Network Rail and Train Operating Companies since your election in May 2008. Please provide separate answers for London Overground related improvements and improvements on other lines, e.g. Chiltern. Answer from the Mayor: National Rail network improvements

The following improvements have been made, or agreed, at National Rail stations across Greater London:

• As part of my manifesto commitment, more than £6m has been invested over 2009-10 to fund an additional 50 British Transport Police (BTP) Officers to patrol Outer London stations. This will reduce crime (already at a relatively low level on the rail network), and the fear of crime for rail passengers. Train Operating Companies (TOCs) have provided additional enforcement officers and facilities as part of the partnership. • Oyster Pay As You Go has been successfully rolled out across all rail services within Greater London, with TfL investing £40m to install or upgrade equipment at rail stations across London, so passengers can benefit from the speed and convenience of Oyster. • TfL has worked with the DfT throughout the South Central refranchising process to deliver additional benefits to customers using the rail network in South London. These include staffing of stations throughout the day (addressing customers’ security concerns) and a deep clean of stations to improve their ambience. These changes

137 represent a significant step forward to the wider delivery of Overground style standards throughout the National Rail network in the London area. As part of this programme, in partnership with the DfT and Southern Railways, 14 stations on the Southern network have received ticket gates. This will decrease fare evasion and anti-social behaviour on the rail network. • Over the past four years, TfL has worked with the TOCs to improve cycle parking at stations, delivering 1,700 new spaces. • TfL has worked with Network Rail and Train Operators to deliver improved interchange at National Rail stations. This includes the construction of a new station entrance at West Hampstead Thameslink station, now funded through the Network Rail Discretionary Fund, which was initiated by a TfL study • TfL has facilitated the development of a scheme to provide a secondary, step-free entrance to Clapham Junction station in Brighton Yard. This has involved securing agreement for funding from a number of different bodies. • TfL is actively engaged in the development of interchange schemes at a number of other stations.

London Overground improvements

• TfL has been successfully managing the London Overground service for two years, which has delivered higher standards for rail passengers in London, as measured for example by the National Passenger Survey. To date, TfL has delivered Oyster pay as you go across the Overground network, staff at all stations, an intensive programme of improvements and repairs to stations, improved train performance and reliability and seen a reduction in crime and ticketless travel. As a consequence there has been an increase in customer satisfaction. • Significant improvements are being introduced across the London Overground network through the £326m North London Railway Infrastructure Project (NLRIP). TfL is directly funding 44% of this project being delivered by Network Rail, with the Olympic Delivery Authority contributing 32 per cent and Network Rail 24 per cent. London Overground will run up to eight trains an hour during peak times on parts of the network when the upgrade is complete, with a more reliable timetable for those trains. New and longer platforms at some stations will also allow more carriages per train, which will increase capacity and reduce overcrowding. TfL is also introducing new rolling stock. • TfL’s programme of station improvements – upgraded CCTV, PA, lighting and passenger information screens, new signs, general refurbishment and new lifts at some locations - will continue in tandem with the NLRIP line upgrades. *

Transport for London/Network Rail/Train Operating Companies 2 Question No: 758 / 2010 Navin Shah How successful would you say TfL’s “influence to secure improvements” from Network Rail and train operating companies has been along the London Overground/Bakerloo line corridor? Please do not answer with reference to S106 secured improvements, such as Wembley Central. Answer from the Mayor: Significant improvements are being made along the London Overground / Bakerloo line corridor:

• New rolling stock will be introduced on this corridor, with a better travel environment and improved passenger facilities. Trains will be lengthened from 3 cars to 4 cars, giving a significant capacity boost.

138 • TfL’s programme of station improvements – upgraded CCTV, PA, lighting and passenger information screens, new signs and general refurbishment - will continue on this corridor. • Station infrastructure improvement works are being undertaken at the key interchange of Willesden Junction. • TfL has installed two new ticket gatelines, at Carpenders Park and Hatch End, on the Euston – Watford Junction DC line bringing improved personal security. These are expected to go live by the end of February. • London Midland has introduced new short distance, semi-fast shuttle services between Watford Junction and Euston.

Guaranteeing Safer Neighbourhood Teams Question No: 759 / 2010 Navin Shah Can you guarantee your reductions in police numbers in this budget will not affect Safer Neighbourhood Team policing? Answer from the Mayor: Safer Neighbourhood Teams are a vital geographic link providing a sense of territorial control. Not only do we want to preserve the numbers of police officers devoted to neighbourhood policing, we want to increase it. This density of police presence is a top priority.

* 225 Bus Question No: 760 / 2010 Len Duvall Further to your answer to question number 261/2010, please will you ask TfL to clarify and breakdown how they arrived at the additional operating costs of extending the 225 at £609,000 for a relatively short proposed extension? Answer from the Mayor: TfL uses a cost model to estimate changes in bus service costs, which is based on recent tender bids. They estimate that it would take about 40 minutes to travel in the evening peak from Hither Green to Catford garage and back by the routeing suggested. This means that three extra buses would be required to maintain the current frequency of a bus every 15 minutes. The model estimates that the extra cost of vehicles and staff would be £609,000 per annum.

* Bus links to/from Verdant Lane/Whitefoot Lane Question No: 761 / 2010 Len Duvall It has been suggested that a bus service from Hither Green along Verdant Lane, Whitefoot Lane and Southend Lane to serve the large Sainsbury’s store at Bell Green would be a much valued and used service. The Verdant Lane area does not benefit from proximity to a rail station and is relatively difficult to access by public transport. Such a service would provide a potentially very popular link with benefits for residents in the Verdant and Whitefoot Lane area. Will you ask TfL to explore possible options? Answer from the Mayor: Yes.

139 * Junction of Ravensbourne Park and Catford Road Question No: 762 / 2010 Len Duvall Can the Mayor give me an update on work being undertaken by TfL concerning the junction of Ravensbourne Park and Catford Road? Answer from the Mayor: The signalisation of this junction currently forms part of the study for the major Catford Town Centre improvement scheme, being developed by TfL in liaison with LB Lewisham. This project is seeking to realign the A205 through Catford and remove the one way traffic flow around the gyratory. This scheme is currently on hold pending the identification of appropriate funding.

Given the scale of this project, any works that take place will be in the long term but there is currently no guarantee that this project will be implemented.

* Affordable Housing Question No: 763 / 2010 Nicky Gavron Has the Mayor undertaken any assessment of housing developments stalling over the past year as a result of the current economic conditions? Answer from the Mayor: Yes. I receive regular reports from the Homes and Communities Agency on the progress of developments scheduled to deliver affordable housing in the current year, and at my Developers Group, this is a standing agenda item.

* Affordable Housing 2 Question No: 764 / 2010 Nicky Gavron How many stalled housing developments have accessed/applied for the Kick Start fund? Answer from the Mayor: You will find information on the allocations made under Kick Start 1 and the short list of schemes for Kick Start 2 at http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/kickstart_housing.

Affordable Housing 3 Question No: 765 / 2010 Nicky Gavron Of the 2008/2009 planning applications referred to you that include housing, how many do not support any social rented or intermediate housing on the basis of financial unviability? Answer from the Mayor: Ever since 2000 GLA planners have concentrated on securing the optimum proportion of affordable housing commensurate with commercial viability and grant availability, rather than on monitoring outcomes - which would require the willingness of the local planning authorities to collect, analyse and report on the data. I am therefore unable to provide the information you request – as was my predecessor. I can report, however, that my decision to abandon fixed

140 percentage targets is enabling GLA and borough planners to negotiate with developers on a flexible basis, with improved results, taking account of the credit crunch.

* Affordable Housing 4 Question No: 766 / 2010 Nicky Gavron Of the 2008/2009 planning applications referred to you which include housing, how many do not support any social housing on the basis of financial viability? Answer from the Mayor: Please see my response to MQ765 / 2010.

* Affordable Housing 5 Question No: 767 / 2010 Nicky Gavron Of the 2008/2009 planning applications referred to you which include housing, how many do not support any social housing on the basis of financial viability, but do support intermediate? Answer from the Mayor: Please see my response to MQ765 / 2010. *

Affordable Housing 6 Question No: 768 / 2010 Nicky Gavron How will you monitor the level of affordable housing applications that are not referred to you, but dealt with at borough level? Answer from the Mayor: I have no intention of carrying out this level of monitoring of the boroughs.

* Affordable Housing 7 Question No: 769 / 2010 Nicky Gavron How many 2008/2009 applications not referred to you, but dealt with at a borough level do not support any social housing on the basis of financial viability? Answer from the Mayor: I do not collect this information.

* Affordable Housing 8 Question No: 770 / 2010 Nicky Gavron How many 2008/2009 applications not referred to you, but dealt with at a borough level do not support any affordable housing on the basis of financial viability?

141 Answer from the Mayor: Please see my response to MQ 769 / 2010.

Affordable Housing 9 Question No: 771 / 2010 Nicky Gavron Since you became Mayor, are you concerned at the number of planning proposals dealt with either at a borough level or referred to you that are not supported on the basis of being financially unviable? Answer from the Mayor: Of course I would be concerned if the planning system was being clogged up with planning applications that had no prospect of being implemented because of unviability, but I have no evidence that this is happening on a significant scale.

* London Plan (1) Question No: 772 / 2010 Nicky Gavron As too many families are living in over crowded conditions will you set higher targets for the number of 3 and 4 bed roomed socially rented properties? Answer from the Mayor: My draft replacement London Plan recognises that “there is a particular need for social rented family homes …. (and) proposes that as a long term strategic target 60% of new affordable housing should be for social renting, especially for families”.

For the shorter term, my London Housing Strategy sets a more specific target for 42 per cent of social rented housing in 2008-11 to have three or more bedrooms, and also outlines a range of additional ways to relieve overcrowding in the capital. This target is part of a balanced investment programme that seeks to best meet the full range of needs for new social housing in London, within the constraints imposed by the overall level of funding available and the range of development opportunities in London.

London Plan (2) Question No: 773 / 2010 Nicky Gavron Given the recent report on the effects of overcrowding on children published by South London Citizens would the Mayor agree that there is great need to stipulate a minimum bedroom size in all housing? Answer from the Mayor: My consultation draft London Housing Design Guide has already proposed minimum bedroom size standards for all housing development on LDA owned land and for publicly funded development after April 2011.

I am considering the consultation responses to the Guide in light of the proposal in my draft replacement London Plan to extend design standards to cover all homes and for the detail of this to be set out in new Supplementary Planning Guidance.

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142 London Plan (3) Question No: 774 / 2010 Nicky Gavron The government has stated it will need to monitor the usefulness of National Indicator 186 and whether the voluntary approach to the agreement of local targets on CO2 emissions is delivering the level of progress required by national targets. Do you intend to monitor information about Local Authority achievement of these emissions? Answer from the Mayor: I monitor progress through the London Energy and Greenhouse Gas Inventory (LEGGI). Boroughs will play an important role in helping London reduce its climate change emissions. I will work with boroughs to ensure that NI186 is delivering the level of progress needed.

* Climate Change (1) Question No: 775 / 2010 Nicky Gavron Does the Mayor know which councils give priority to reducing CO2 emissions? Answer from the Mayor:

Data gathered for local authority National Indicators 185 (CO2 reduction from local authority operations) and 186 (per capita reduction in CO2 emissions in the LA area) indicate which London boroughs are reporting on CO2 emissions as part of their local area agreements (LAA’s). 14 London boroughs have chosen NI 185 and 18 have chosen NI 186 to form part of their LAA’s. A full list of which boroughs are reporting on which indicators is available at http://www.localpriorities.communities.gov.uk/.

* Climate Change (2) Question No: 776 / 2010 Nicky Gavron Does the Mayor know which councils are most successful in percentage reduction in CO2 emissions? Answer from the Mayor: Data gathered for local authority National Indicators 185 (CO2 reduction from local authority operations) and 186 (per capita reduction in CO2 emissions in the LA area) will indicate the reduction in CO2 emissions in London boroughs. National government estimates for NI 186 are available which shows per capita CO2 emissions per London borough for 2005, 2006 and 2007. London had the lowest estimated per capita emissions of any region in 2007. Baseline data for NI 185 is currently being examined by DECC. *

Climate Change (3) Question No: 777 / 2010 Nicky Gavron Does the Mayor accept the recommendations in the London Sustainable Development Commission’s Capital Consumption report to base emission targets on consumption rather that production?

143 Answer from the Mayor:

My target to reduce London’s CO2 emissions by 60% of 1990 levels by 2025 is based on those emissions that occur within the geographic boundary of London. CO2 emissions from power stations generating electricity consumed in London are also counted towards London’s CO2 emissions, even though they may be in different parts of the country.

Due to the inexact nature of measuring indirect emissions, the variation between sectors, and my scope to influence their reduction, indirect emissions are not included within the scope of the Strategy. This is in line with international standards that seek to avoid double counting. However, I recognise the importance of tackling these wherever possible through sectors such as waste and food. My draft Municipal Waste Management Strategy demonstrates how CO2 emissions from waste that originates in London will be reduced, and my Food Programme will look to address CO2 emissions associated with increasing the supply and availability of local, sustainably produced food.

* Ticket Machines & Freedom Passes Question No: 778 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Why are Freedom Pass/Travelcard/Oyster Travelcard holders unable to buy tickets from the Boundary Zones to their destinations from Ticket Machines, ticket machines will only allow tickets to be purchased from the station that the ticket machine is located at. In other countries you can buy tickets from A to B Answer from the Mayor: It would not be practical for the Tube ticket machines to encompass all these additional fares on top of those they already provide.

Comprehensive ticket purchase facilities for onwards travel beyond the fare zones are generally provided by the National Rail companies at the mainline terminals and other gateway stations. *

Buses on the South Circular Question No: 779 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Given the generally poor standard of east-west public transport connections in south London and in particular the lack of direct bus routes along the South Circular in Lambeth between Tulse Hill and Streatham Hill what plans do TfL have to improve the situation and help to reduce reliance on the private car for trips between Tulse Hill, Streatham and Clapham? Answer from the Mayor: Routes 201 and P13 already provide a direct link between Tulse Hill and Streatham Hill, although passengers wanting to travel to Clapham will need to change buses There are no current plans to provide an additional link to Clapham.

* C10 Bus Question No: 780 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross What plans do you have for improving the performance of the appalling C10 service?

144 Answer from the Mayor: TfL introduced four additional morning peak-time journeys (from Canada Water to the Elephant) on the C10 on 11 January 2010. TfL’s monitoring of the service has shown that performance has since steadily improved. TfL will continue to monitor the service and will work with the operator to ensure this trend is maintained.

* TfL Industrial Relations (1) Question No: 781 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross London Underground, a constituent part of Transport for London, has agreed for their employees a two-year pay settlement (2009-11) with the recognised Trade Unions. Transport for London is refusing to reach an equivalent arrangement with the Unions for their employees in the London Rail, Corporate and Surface Transport Directorates. I have been told that TfL have written individually to all employees in these areas and told them that if they are not a member of a recognised trade union they can sign a personal form to accept the pay increase and it will be paid to them One Unite member, who has signed the form agreeing to the offer, has now been told that he will not be getting the pay increase ‘because he is a member of a trade union’ Does the Mayor agree that discriminating against employees for being trade union members is an inappropriate way for TfL’s managers to conduct industrial relations? Answer from the Mayor: One trade union in TfL has so far balloted its staff in respect of the 2009 pay offer, the Public Commercial Services (PCS) union, and the offer has been accepted. Despite lengthy negotiations and discussions at ACAS none of the other five trade unions have balloted their members. Before TfL is able to pay trade union members, their union needs to accept the pay settlement.

Members of PCS are entitled to the increase that they agreed to, as are non-union members. Individuals are not being subject to discrimination for being union members. TfL has explained to individuals who belong to unions that have not agreed to the pay settlement, such as Unite, that they need to raise this with their union, and ask their unions to ballot members on TfL’s final pay offer.

* TfL Industrial Relations (2) Question No: 782 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Transport for London have told trade union members working in the London Rail, Corporate and Surface Transport directorates that, because they are members of a recognised trade union with which it cannot reach agreement on pay, they are withdrawing from them access to TfL’s 75% rail fare reimbursement scheme. Does the Mayor recognise that this has a serious effect on TfL’s employees’ ability to meet their bills, and does he accept that these confrontational tactics are an inappropriate way to conduct industrial relations? Answer from the Mayor: The 75 per cent rail season ticket reimbursement scheme was part of the previous pay settlement and was explicitly agreed to expire at the end of March 2009. Before TfL is able to pay trade union members, their union needs to confirm acceptance of the pay settlement.

145 The only trade union to ballot its members over the pay settlement has been the Public Commercial Services (PCS) union and their members accepted the offer; for those, and non- union members, the 75 per cent season ticket discount has been renewed. The settlement remains open for acceptance by the other trade unions, and they should ballot their members on it.

TfL has worked hard to reach agreement with all of the trade unions, has followed the processes outlined in internal agreements, and has complied with legislation. TfL is committed to continuing to work with the trade unions. *

TfL Industrial Relations (3) Question No: 783 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Are you satisfied that the following information provided to TfL (non LUL) employees by TfL at http://source.tfl/PeopleAndDevelopment/10536.aspx is lawful? This is a direct quote .’’ Am I eligible for this pay increase? You are eligible for this pay increase if you: • work in TfL Corporate, London Rail or Surface Transport and are in pay bands 1-3 or on an equivalent grade, having TUPE’d into TfL from other organisations, and • are either a member of PCS, or • are not a member of any other of the recognised unions, and • have been in post prior to 1 January 2009, and • received an “achieved”, “exceeded” or “outstanding” performance rating for the 2008/09 performance year” Answer from the Mayor: Yes. *

Use of E Pay to pay Congestion charge Question No: 784 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross I have had a complaint from a driver who has twice been sent a PCN for non-payment of the congestion charge despite having paid by Epay at a newsagents. He discovered that the problem is that the zero ‘0’ was confused with an ‘o’ when entering his vehicle registration. And this wasn’t apparent from the till receipt. He asks TfL to explain: (a) the reason for the policy decision to use Epay’s services (b) how many problems there have been with Epay since November of last year and whether and how many people have had the same issues with the entering of the registration numbers of their vehicles (c) how well the training of Epay operatives has been supervised, if at all, by Transport for London (d) whether Transport for London is aware of the poor quality of the Epay customer services contact phone line (e) whether Transport for London does make an effort to make clear that receipts for the

146 payment of the charge must have the make and model of the vehicle concerned [the old Paypoint receipts did not] (f) why it is that Transport for London cannot ask Epay to print receipts that clearly differentiate between the number zero and the letter ‘O’. Answer from the Mayor: a) In 2008, following a competitive procurement process, TfL selected epay as the Congestion Charging Retail service provider. epay’s service commenced on 31 October 2009. b) TfL is only aware of a handful of problems experienced by customers utilising the new epay service, and does not believe there are any widespread problems. TfL does take any complaints very seriously and fully investigates all complaints made. c) TfL approved all epay user guides. TfL also provided input into the face-to-face training that all retailers received prior to the service going live. TfL ensures that epay provides information to assist retailers through a helpline. TfL is kept informed of the continuing training being provided by epay; this includes follow-on training if any issue has been identified with a specific outlet. d) The epay customer service contact phone number is provided to enable retailers to request assistance such as reporting any technical faults. TfL would ask that any customer who has experienced a problem contacts the main congestion charging contact centre directly on 0845 900 1234. TfL will ensure that the customer’s issue is addressed and will raise any issues with epay as necessary. e) When purchasing the charge at a retail outlet, the customer provides the vehicles number plate details. The retailer then enters this into the system and reconfirms back to the customer before the payment is taken. f) An enhancement has been made to add the vehicle make and model to the receipt to assist the customer in validating that the correct vehicle has been paid for. This should help to reduce the number of errors made when purchasing the congestion charge at a retail outlet. Unfortunately this detail cannot be provided in all circumstances.

Epay has been actively working with TfL to examine whether additional improvement can be made to the display of the information shown on the receipt and enhance the training. *

Helicopters over SE1 Question No: 785 / 2010 Valerie Shawcross Can you supply me with the numbers of Police helicopter movements in the last recorded year over the area east of Elephant and Castle known as the Tabard Estate SE1? Answer from the Mayor: The MPS inform me that it would take a considerable amount of time to identify flights over the specific estate referred to as this would involve manually going through every flight log for the entire year. However, they can break down the flights over the whole Borough, which includes Elephant and Castle and the Tabard Estate.

Flights from January 2009 - January 2010 for Southwark are:

Total Flights = 78 Total Flying Hours = 97hrs 5 mins Total number of incidents attended = 323

*

147 Northern Line closures Question No: 786 / 2010 Jennette Arnold As part of the proposed 16 months of early evening closures on the Northern Line from July onwards, evening services will start to ramp down from 20:30 onwards. How will this affect the average waiting time between 20.30 and 22.30? Answer from the Mayor: Preliminary work on a timetable to support early evening closures shows that passengers would hardly notice an impact on waiting times before 21.30.

After then, and until the last trains leave central London at approximately 22.30, there would be an increase in waiting times. However, TfL are working to keep the impact to a minimum.

New Bus for London Question No: 787 / 2010 Jennette Arnold The project monitoring and project approvals report presented at the TfL’s latest Finance and Policy Committee shows that an additional £10.876m was approved for the development and delivery of 5 vehicles under the new bus for London project. This means that, at a total approval of £11.37m, the cost of each bus will come to £2.27m. How does your new bus for London offer value for money to Londoners? Answer from the Mayor: Please also refer to my answer to MQ654/ 2010. TfL has contracted Wrightbus on the basis of covering the design and development cost for the new bus for London up front, which will result in the capital costs of production vehicles being lower. A manufacturer would normally amortise their design and development costs over the forecasted production run.

The quoted sum above also includes TfL contingency and other project costs, and does not represent the value of the contract with Wrightbus.

* Tubelines versus ex Metronet Question No: 788 / 2010 John Biggs You repeatedly attack Tubelines. Have there been any slippages or mistakes on the former Metronet contracts which, if it were still a separate organisation, you would similarly attack? And for each of the outputs required on former Metronet Works, has there been any slippage, additional possession requirement or cost overrun? Please list each of these outputs and in this highlight the cases where overrun or over-cost has happened. Answer from the Mayor: What you characterise as ‘attacks’ are in fact simply attempts by me, and by TfL to hold Tube Lines to account – something the PPP structure makes very difficult.

Salvaging the wreckage of Metronet following its transfer to TfL in 2008 has been a painful process – particularly in its stations programme, where we have had to make painful cuts. Yet London Underground (LU) has achieved much since taking over, saved billions of pounds in the process and is making good progress with the major upgrades of the Victoria and ‘sub-surface’ lines. Both of these are being delivered on time and on budget as defined post the transfer from Metronet.

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Of course LU needs to be held to account too. That is why we publish the information you seek in four weekly PPP Performance reports published on the TfL website (www.tfl.gov.uk/pppreport). Regrettably, much of this information, particularly on costs, is not available for Tube Lines’ projects.

* Circle Line Crash Question No: 789 / 2010 John Biggs What was the cause of the collision at Aldgate Station recently? Whose fault was it? Who is to blame? Who did you denounce for this? Answer from the Mayor: The incident involved the roof of the first Circle line train of the morning scraping a scaffolding bracket that had been erected above the track the previous night. There was only minor damage to the roof of the train, and services were disrupted whilst the scaffolding was removed.

Immediate steps have been taken to prevent this from happening again in the short term, while a formal investigation is undertaken by London Underground with the full co-operation of the contractors involved. The purpose of the investigation is to identify the facts, root causes and the actions needed to prevent a recurrence.

I am of course disappointed that such an error by a contractor has occurred and will be asking London Underground to ensure that all steps are taken to prevent a recurrence.

* Aldgate East 1 Question No: 790 / 2010 John Biggs When will the substantive station works be finished (other than the Western entrance affected by the delays to construction above the site)? How far behind the contracted or promised date will this be? Answer from the Mayor: The substantive station works will be completed in April 2010, and the works to the Western entrance in July 2010.

There are additional structural works being undertaken within the new station control point and platform walls, to repair cracking that has appeared as a result of recent ground movement. The source of this cracking is currently being investigated and until this issue is resolved London Underground will not be able to commission all the elements of the station upgrade project. As a result project completion is currently forecast for July 2010.

Metronet were originally scheduled to complete the project by 9 March 2008, but the project was already significantly late at the time Metronet entered administration.

* Aldgate East 2 Question No: 791 / 2010 John Biggs When will the Western entrance, on the North side of Whitechapel High Street, be reopened?

149 Answer from the Mayor: The Western entrance (Exit 19) is forecast to reopen in July 2010.

* Aldgate East 3 Question No: 792 / 2010 John Biggs Will the promised lift, to be delivered as part of the planning permission for the site above the Western entrance, now be provided? What has happened to this agreement, implementation of which I understood was affected by Icelandic banking problems? Answer from the Mayor: The developer of this property had agreed to build a lift shaft from street to ticket hall level. This lift shaft has been completed, even though work on the project has stopped as a result of the banking problems mentioned.

However, the agreement did not include the provision of a lift in this shaft, the construction of a tunnel linking the bottom of the shaft with the ticket hall or lifts from the ticket hall to both platforms. These elements, necessary to provide step-free access from street to platform, will have to be delivered by London Underground (LU) at some future point, as and when funding becomes available.

As you know, the funding available to LU following the collapse of Metronet and the economic downturn is extremely limited. As a result, there is currently no funding available to take this scheme forward.

* Exclusivity Question No: 793 / 2010 John Biggs How were you able to speak exclusively, with substantially identically worded articles, to the Wandsworth Guardian, Epson Guardian, Kingston Guardian and Wimbledon Guardian (and at least two others) on the same day? Answer from the Mayor: I invited senior editors from the Newsquest Media Group to an informal reception in my office on January 21, to build on the strong relationship between City Hall and Newsquest, which is biggest local newspaper publisher in London, with 40 titles throughout the capital.

Among the many important issues to Londoners that we discussed, the editors raised concerns about the threat council-funded newspapers pose to the traditional local press. Newsquest then approached my press office for a direct Mayoral quote on this issue, which we were happy to provide, and this appeared in articles throughout the Newsquest series of titles. *

Council run newspapers Question No: 794 / 2010 John Biggs Do you agree with some commentators who have said that council run newspapers are a ‘ludicrous waste of money’ or is there perhaps a bigger problem which is that local newspapers are in a crisis because of falling revenues and circulations because of other changing behaviour,

150 in particular the growth of the internet, a position only marginally, if at all, exacerbated by local authorities? Answer from the Mayor: It is quite clear to me that Council-produced newspapers are a ludicrous waste of money and a very real threat to the democratic process, which is why I instantly scrapped Ken Livingstone's self-serving propaganda sheet, the Londoner, saving £2.9m of council taxpayers' money a year to be spent on, amongst other things, 10,000 trees.

* Ethical Standards Question No: 795 / 2010 John Biggs Do these extend to the Fire Authority? Answer from the Mayor: LFEPA is subject to the ethical standards regime applicable to all local authorities. This is set down in legislation, particularly the Local Government Act 2000, and is overseen by Standards for England.

Members of LFEPA are required to comply with the Authority's adopted Code of Conduct. The Authority's Standards Committee is responsible for dealing with allegations that any member has breached the Code of Conduct. Any such allegation must be submitted to the Monitoring Officer of the Authority.

* Indian Offices Question No: 796 / 2010 John Biggs Why did you reverse your previous decision and when was this decided and by whom and where reported? Can you append a copy of the report explaining this decision to your written replies? Answer from the Mayor: I have not reversed any decision regarding the London Development Offices in India. Their representatives, who worked in Delhi and Mumbai, left to take up alternative opportunities and the LDA have maintained the necessary paperwork with the authorities to employ new representatives. They will not be replaced until a fuller review, currently underway, into London's overseas promotion is complete.

London continues to be actively promoted in India through the capital's inward investment agency, Think London.

Rest assured, I fully recognise the importance of India to London. To maximize the benefits to London we are developing our promotion across the key sectors of trade, inward investment, tourism and students to ensure it is accomplished in the most effective manner possible.

* Crime Data Question No: 797 / 2010 John Biggs Would you ever mislead over crime data?

151 Answer from the Mayor: I would never intentionally release misleading crime data.

* Aquarium Question No: 798 / 2010 John Biggs Will you be supporting any proposals for aquariums under your administration? Answer from the Mayor: All development proposals, including aquaria, must be determined on their merits in light of the development plan for the area.

Fares lower than 10 years ago Question No: 799 / 2010 John Biggs If fares are lower in real terms than 10 years ago, while you have done nothing but raise them, do you accept that someone else might have been responsible for this situation? Should such a person, relative to you, be celebrated as a hero or a villain? Answer from the Mayor: I have made it clear on a number of occasions that many of the tough decisions I have had to take reflect my inheritance from my predecessor, who for political purposes artificially held down fares in an election year leading to some of the financial difficulties TfL has found itself.

In addition, I have maintained half-price bus travel for people on income support without recourse to subsidy from the people of Venezuela. *

Blackwall Toll Question No: 800 / 2010 John Biggs Do you unequivocally reject such a proposal? Answer from the Mayor: My draft transport strategy makes it clear that tolls may be required to fund new infrastructure, particularly river crossings. In the case of Blackwall, there are no plans to toll the existing tunnel. As part of the work on new crossings, tolls are being considered both as a source of possible funding and a mechanism for managing demand on existing and new infrastructure.

* London City Airport Question No: 801 / 2010 John Biggs Will you be commenting to the review by the CAA of altered flight paths? Answer from the Mayor: NATS has announced that it will be undertaking a new consultation, on behalf of the CAA, on revised proposals for aircraft routes and airspace management in the area of south-east England

152 referred to as Terminal Control North. This follows the consultation undertaken in 2008. At this stage I have no further information regarding the scope of the proposals. NATS does not expect this consultation to start before September at the earliest because of the need to undertake further analysis. On receipt of these revised proposals I will review and comment as appropriate.

* City Safe Haven Question No: 802 / 2010 John Biggs How will a passing, threatened, young person know that City Hall is a safe haven? Answer from the Mayor: For people passing City Hall, there is a sign in the window clearly declaring that it is a safe haven.

London Citizens has been working hard to raise awareness of safe havens through its CitySafe coordinators in schools and colleges.

When City Hall became a safe haven the story was reported in the mainstream media including the BBC and the Times. This publicity has also helped to raise the profile of the scheme so that young people are aware of it.

* Convention Centre Question No: 803 / 2010 John Biggs What definition of ’convention centre’ did you use in your answer to 233/2010? Answer from the Mayor: My answer obviously covered the range of facilities that large and small conventions require and which are offered by existing institutions in London. If there is international demand for other (including larger) facilities, and many believe that such demand exists, my view remains the same as before - that it is for the private sector to respond to and meet that demand and to take the risks in doing so.

* Lord Mayor of London Question No: 804 / 2010 John Biggs Why is the non-award of a knighthood ‘small minded and petty’? Should everyone have one? Should it attach to certain jobs as of right? Answer from the Mayor: The pettiness, small mindedness and bullying of this Government knows no bounds, as those who have had the forces of Hell unleashed against them can attest.

*

153 Special Constable Question No: 805 / 2010 John Biggs What is the difference between a special constable and the ordinary type? Answer from the Mayor: Special Constables hold the same powers and wear the same uniform as their full-time police officer colleagues. Apart from Specials being part-time volunteer police officers, the other main difference is that Specials’ training and patrols are targeted towards visible local policing. For example, this would be as part of a Safer Neighbourhood team, town centre team or transport hub team. As such they are not usually trained in more advanced areas of policing such as high- level public order or advanced driving.

* New Vice Chair of MPA Question No: 806 / 2010 Murad Qureshi Congratulations in appointing Reshard Auladin as vice chair of the MPA. Could you inform me what his remuneration package is for holding this position? Answer from the Mayor: MPA members’ allowances are made in accordance with the provisions of the Metropolitan Police Authority Regulations 2008 and the current scheme was adopted on 6 October 2008.

In terms of remuneration for the position of vice chairman the current scheme only makes provision for any remuneration for the vice chairman if the Mayor is Chairman of the Authority.

The vice chair of the MPA may claim for allowances for expenses in the same way as other members of the authority. These details are on the MPA website.

* Air Quality Strategy I Question No: 807 / 2010 Murad Qureshi What further discussions have taken palace or are planned between you or your office and the European Commission since publication of the first draft of your Air Quality Strategy? Answer from the Mayor: The GLA sent an e-mail to European Commission officials on 5 October 2009 informing them of the publication of my draft Air Quality Strategy for consultation with the London Assembly and functional bodies. My Environment Adviser Isabel Dedring had a further meeting in Brussels with Commission officials on 4 November 2009 to discuss the contents of the draft Strategy in more detail. The GLA plans to send the public consultation draft of the Strategy to Commission officials when it is published, which I expect will be in the spring. Discussions between Defra officials and the Commission are ongoing and we liaise regularly with Defra to feed in points for these discussions and we receive feedback.

* Air Quality Strategy II Question No: 808 / 2010 Murad Qureshi The first draft of your Air Quality Strategy does not contain sufficient measures to ensure

154 London’s air quality meets EU pollution levels. Will you ensure the public draft does? Answer from the Mayor: The first draft of my Air Quality Strategy, which was published in October 2009 for consultation with the London Assembly and functional bodies, set out measures that I believe will allow London to comply with PM10 limit values by 2011. However, the Strategy made clear that NO2 is a national problem, as almost every major city in the United Kingdom is failing to meet NO2 limit values. Even the strong action proposed in my Strategy for the GLA and functional bodies to take would not be enough to meet NO2 limit values in London. Therefore, as outlined in the Strategy, action is needed from central Government. The public consultation draft of my Strategy, due to be published in the spring, will set out in more detail what actions the GLA Group will take, and will also suggest measures that other organisations, including central Government, need to take to meet limit values.

* Crossrail I Question No: 809 / 2010 Murad Qureshi In answer to my question 305 / 2010 you indicated the peak construction period for Crossrail would be three months. When will this be? Answer from the Mayor: Crossrail submits Lorry Management Plans to local authorities before appointing contractors. The plans are based on indicative programmes and initial assessments of the works required and the number of lorry movements necessary to support them.

More detailed information on lorry movement numbers, the overall programme and when the peak will occur will be available when contractors are appointed and have developed detailed plans for the works.

* Crossrail II Question No: 810 / 2010 Murad Qureshi In answer to my question 305 / 2010 you indicated that during Crossrail’s peak construction period of three months an average of 100 lorries per day would access the worksite. Will there be restrictions on the time of day these movements may take place or a cap set of the number of vehicles accessing the site each day? Answer from the Mayor: As part of the Crossrail Construction Code, which is part of the Environmental Minimum Requirements, there are restrictions in place on the times of day when deliveries to or from a site can be made. This Code sets out the core working hours for Crossrail construction and specified that these will be from 8am to 6pm Weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with a period up to an hour before or an hour after core working hours for the start up and close down of activities. This includes deliveries to and from site. However, there is no cap on the number of vehicles accessing the site. *

155 Crossrail III Question No: 811 / 2010 Murad Qureshi In answer to my question 305 / 2010 you indicated that during Crossrail’s peak construction period of three months an average of 100 lorries per day would access the worksite and that outside this time lorry movements would reduce to approximately 40 to 50 per day. For how long will these lorry movements continue overall? How many lorry movements will be needed in total? Answer from the Mayor: Crossrail submits Lorry Management Plans to local authorities before appointing contractors. The plans are based on indicative programmes and initial assessments of the works required and the number of lorry movements necessary to support them.

More detailed information on lorry movement numbers, the overall programme and when the peak will occur will be available when contractors are appointed and have developed detailed plans for the works.

Our current programme indicates the works at Royal Oak will be complete in 2013.

* Crossrail IV Question No: 812 / 2010 Murad Qureshi I note that London Councils has recently relaxed the London Night Lorry Control Scheme. Is there now any impediment to lorries or other works vehicles accessing the Crossrail site throughout the night? Answer from the Mayor: The working hours at Crossrail construction sites are strictly governed by the Crossrail Construction Code, which is part of the Environmental Minimum Requirements as required under the Crossrail Act 2008. Core working hours will be from 8am to 6pm weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays with a period up to an hour before or an hour after core working hours for the start up and close down of activities. This includes deliveries to and from site. Lorries would therefore not be permitted to access the site outside of these hours without the agreement of the relevant local authority.

* Crossrail V Question No: 813 / 2010 Murad Qureshi Crossrail works are already causing disruption to the residents and businesses around the Royal Oak portal, which is set to continue for some years to come. Would you please give detail of any compensation scheme available to mitigate for this disruption and who is eligible to claim under the scheme? Answer from the Mayor: Crossrail has made a series of commitments as part of gaining approval through the Crossrail Act to do all that is practicable to minimise and mitigate disruption caused by worksites.

As part of these commitments, Crossrail has established a Small Claims Scheme to deal with claims relating to physical damage to property such as land or personal effects for an amount of up to £5,000. The scheme is available to householders, commercial and other organisations

156 having an interest in land or property, including personal property, but not to local authorities and government departments or agencies.

The scheme is administered by a loss adjuster independent from Crossrail Limited, and aims to deal with claims promptly. This scheme does not affect a property owner's statutory rights, and is monitored by the independent Crossrail Complaints Commissioner, who will determine any requests for arbitration under the scheme.

Claims exceeding £5,000, along with certain other types of claim such as:

• road accidents; • personal injury; • claims for permanent reduction in the value of property; or • compensation as a result of predicted noise or vibration caused by construction are subject to separate processes, and are not covered by the Small Claims Scheme.

As with any construction, claims can only be made for demonstrable loss resulting from the construction of Crossrail and any disruption, not for the disruption itself.

* Camden Town Question No: 814 / 2010 Murad Qureshi How will new weekend closures affect Camden Town Tube station? Answer from the Mayor: Under what London Underground currently understands to be Tube Lines’ programme to upgrade the Northern line, 35 weekend closures would affect Camden Town Tube station. On these weekends there would be no services through Camden Town Tube station.

London Underground continues to urge Tube Lines to take a more customer-focused approach – and to come up with alternative ways of upgrading the line, such as better off-site test tracks, better simulation and less intrusive testing techniques as have been used on other metro systems. *

GLA Offices in India Question No: 815 / 2010 Murad Qureshi In your reply to question 0309/2010 you state that you are conducting a review into the future of the GLA offices in Mumbai and Delhi. But you have already conducted a review, which reported in January 2009. It found that “the rationale for London to have offices in key emerging markets is fundamentally sound” and that “the GLA’s offices do play an important role in promoting London’s interests, from supporting the capital’s businesses to enhancing the image of our city around the world”. Why did you ignore the result of that review and allow the India offices to close? Answer from the Mayor: I have not ignored the report you allude to and London continues to be actively promoted in India through the capital's inward investment agency, Think London. The London Development Agency representatives have now moved on. They will not be replaced until a fuller review, currently underway, into London's overseas promotion is complete.

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Rest assured, I fully recognise the importance of India to London. To maximize the benefits to London we are developing our promotion across the key sectors of trade, inward investment, tourism and students to ensure it is accomplished in the most effective manner possible. *

Thames Estuary Airport Question No: 816 / 2010 Murad Qureshi Do you think building an airport in the Thames Estuary could be one of the biggest and bravest things you do? Please answer directly, yes or no Answer from the Mayor: Please see my response to MQ 3738/2009.

* Vehicle Emissions Question No: 817 / 2010 Murad Qureshi What would be the reduction in harmful emissions if a ten-year age limit for taxis and private hire vehicles were introduced in 2012? Answer from the Mayor: Indicative estimates suggest that a ten-year age limit for taxis in 2012 could achieve reductions in NOx emissions of around 25% and in PM10 emissions (exhaust only) of around 40%, compared to the baseline assumptions in that year. This would need to be weighed against the very substantial costs in attaining this reduction, relative to other (potentially less costly) means of achieving the same reduction.

Unlike taxis, which are a discrete group of vehicles, figures for PHV emissions cannot be easily produced as they are not treated as a separate category of vehicle from cars. This will be addressed for the more detailed emissions and concentrations modelling being prepared for the next version of my draft Air Quality Strategy.

* Time for Action Question No: 818 / 2010 Joanne McCartney Why have I not received the work plans and costings as promised in MQT 2745/2009 ? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Response provided on 8 March 2010: In my letter to you dated 17 November 2009 regarding initiatives for young people in London, I provided additional information on the costings, actions plans and governance arrangments for the Time for Action programme and the Mayor’s Fund.

At the time, I stated that final costings were being determined as part of the GLA’s budget setting process. Since then, I have approved the request in Mayoral Decision 454 which released up to £195,000 of GLA funds for 2009/10.

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My letter also mentioned that governance for the Mayor’s Scholars strand of work was still being developed, and that actions were pending agreement. Work has since progressed, therefore I have asked my officers to provide you with an update on currently proposed activity under this initiative.

For further information on the ‘Sport and Music for All’ strand, please refer to Making Music Matter, my recently announced £250,000 strategy to boost young Londoners’ musical opportunities and A Sporting Future for London, my £30m three-year investment in grassroots sports in the capital.

* Police Specials (1) Question No: 819 / 2010 Joanne McCartney Why have you cut the number of specials due to be in place for the start of the Olympics from 10,000 to 6,667? Answer from the Mayor: We are aspiring to reach 10,000 specials, but have set a minimum target of 6697 Specials. This equates to the hours served by 10,000 Specials under the previous arrangements.

* Police Specials (2) Question No: 820 / 2010 Joanne McCartney On 23 March 2009 you issued a press release stating, “The Mayor has agreed £32 million of funding from the MPA and Policing Minister Vernon Coaker for the recruitment of 10,000 Specials by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games.” What has happened to the £32m, especially the £8m the Home Office committed to the project? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly. * Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: Plans to increase the number of specials to a minimum target of 6,667 by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games is currently being implemented. Funding for the original investment set out last year comes from a number of sources including the Home Office. The £8m Home Office funding you referred to was an estimate. Funding has been confirmed at £7.5m. Of the Home Office funding, £6.1m will be used to assist the growth of specials and the remainder is to assist with the cost of the extra aid commitment.

Police Specials (4) Question No: 821 / 2010 Joanne McCartney Where do you intend to use police specials in place of police officer or PCSO posts you are cutting?

159 Answer from the Mayor: The Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) is a constantly expanding group of dedicated volunteer police officers who support and complement their full-time colleagues in providing a quality police service to London. The MSC is there to support, not replace, police officers and PCSOs. It is important to note that the volunteer officers are seen as playing a vital role in the MPS policing plan and provide additionality to the work of the MPS and their commitment to the public of London.

* Police Specials (5) Question No: 822 / 2010 Joanne McCartney What is the turn over rate for police specials? Answer from the Mayor: The current Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) turnover rate based on the last 12 months’ strength and wastage data (01/02/09 to 31/01/10) is 19.99 per cent.

* Police Specials (6) Question No: 823 / 2010 Joanne McCartney What is the average length of service for a police special? Answer from the Mayor: As at 31/01/10 the average length of service for serving Special Constables in the Metropolitan Police was 2.91 years. *

Freedom Pass (1) Question No: 824 / 2010 Joanne McCartney Constituents have informed me that their local post offices have been out of stock of freedom passes when they have gone to renew their application. This appears to be a widespread problem. Why did this happen? How many post offices were affected by a shortage of freedom passes? Answer from the Mayor: All matters relating to the Freedom Pass re-issue, including the supply of forms etc, are handled by London Councils.

TfL is not involved and holds no information on the number of forms printed or the number of applicants by Borough.

All queries relating to the re-issue should be referred to London Councils.

*

160 Freedom Pass (2) Question No: 825 / 2010 Joanne McCartney What action are you taking to ensure that problems with freedom pass applications are sorted out and do not recur next year? Answer from the Mayor: All matters relating to the Freedom Pass re-issue, including the supply of forms etc, are handled by London Councils.

TfL is not involved and holds no information on the number of forms printed or the number of applicants by Borough.

All queries relating to the re-issue should be referred to London Councils.

* Freedom Pass (3) Question No: 826 / 2010 Joanne McCartney How many freedom pass forms have been printed and sent to Post Offices, by Borough? Answer from the Mayor: All matters relating to the Freedom Pass re-issue, including the supply of forms etc, are handled by London Councils.

TfL is not involved and holds no information on the number of forms printed or the number of applicants by Borough.

All queries relating to the re-issue should be referred to London Councils.

* Freedom Pass (4) Question No: 827 / 2010 Joanne McCartney How many freedom pass holders are there, by borough? Answer from the Mayor: All matters relating to the Freedom Pass re-issue, including the supply of forms etc, are handled by London Councils.

TfL is not involved and holds no information on the number of forms printed or the number of applicants by Borough.

All queries relating to the re-issue should be referred to London Councils.

* Pedestrian Rail Guards Removal Programme (1) Question No: 828 / 2010 Joanne McCartney Can you ensure that when TfL remove guard rails that they make good the area form which they were removed? I have had complaints that where rails have been removed, the standard of removal has been shoddy; for example on the A10 adjacent to the Enfield Retail Park.

161 Answer from the Mayor: TfL is carrying out post removal audits across the network at selected locations (effectively spot checks) to ensure reinstatements are to standard. TfL will inspect this location within 7 days and ensure that any poor reinstatements are made good as a matter of urgency.

* Pedestrian Rail Guards Removal Programme (2) Question No: 829 / 2010 Joanne McCartney Could you please let me have the detailed locations of the guard rails to be removed as specified in your answer to my Question 258/2010 and the planned removal dates? Answer from the Mayor: Of the 1,755m of Pedestrian Guard Rail identified for removal to date in Enfield, 1,350m has been removed. A further 380m has been identified for removal as part of the A406 Bounds Green Environmental improvement scheme. A further 25m has also been identified for removal at Silver Street and is yet to be removed. The removal of this section of guard railing is being programmed by TfL.

This is set out in the Appendix L.

* Pedestrian Rail Guards Removal Programme (3) Question No: 830 / 2010 Joanne McCartney Can you ensure that prior to rail guards being removed signage to this effect is placed on the affected railings so that local residents are aware of the intended works? Can you also please ensure that this signage is posted at least 4 weeks prior to removal, so that residents can make representations to their elected representatives about the intended plans? Answer from the Mayor: Notices are put up one week before guard rail is removed, to warn members of the public not to leave cycles fastened to railings and also to provide contact information after removals if it has been necessary for cycles to be removed, in order to remove the guard rail. The notices are not intended for consultation nor to serve as a notice to residents for intended works.

For consultation purposes, TfL send all of the proposed removals to the borough officers for local consultation. TfL rely on borough local knowledge as part of the consultation process as well as a rigorous safety audit process before guard rail is removed, which can be between 3 and 6 weeks depending on the guard rail programme.

* Pedestrian Rail Guards Removal Programme (4) Question No: 831 / 2010 Joanne McCartney Is it the case that having removed pedestrian rail guards along parts of the A10 in Enfield, that TfL/London Borough of Enfield is now installing cycle safety rails in the same locations? Answer from the Mayor: TfL wrote to your office on 5 February 2010 and has confirmed that it has no plans to replace pedestrian guard railing (PGR) already removed in Enfield with ‘cycle safety rails’.

162 * MPS Special Priority Payments Question No: 832 / 2010 Joanne McCartney Which category of police officer/PCSOs are to lose their special priority payments? Answer from the Mayor: The Special Priority Payments (SPP) scheme is targeted towards front line/operational officers in posts not police staff or PCSOs. A review of the SPP scheme was undertaken in 2009.

As a result, a range of roles in Territorial Policing Integrated Borough Operations, Central Operations Public Order and Specialist Crime were removed from the 2009 SPP list. This totalled around 650 posts from a total of around 14,000 eligible posts. *

Crossrail Business Exemption Question No: 833 / 2010 Len Duvall Why can’t you exempt schools from this tax? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010:

The Government’s business rates legislation does not allow me to exempt schools as a class from the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.

Schools pay National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR) i.e. national business rates to central government. A typical outer London primary school with a rateable value of £50,000, for example, will pay an average of £20,000 per annum in business rates via their local borough council to central government.

The Business Rate Supplements Act 2009 – which grants the GLA the power to levy the Crossrail BRS - requires any BRS to operate in parallel with NNDR. Properties and other assessments will be liable to the Crossrail BRS if their rateable value is higher than £55,000 and they are on the local non domestic rating lists of the 32 London boroughs and the Corporation of London. This applies equally to public sector organisations, schools and charities as well as private sector businesses.

Registered charities – including some independent and voluntary aided schools – are eligible for at least 80 per cent relief on both their NNDR and BRS liabilities (if applicable). This can be increased to 100 per cent at the discretion of individual boroughs. No such relief arrangements apply for public sector bodies including schools under existing rating legislation.

The legislation does however allow me to vary the rateable value threshold above which the BRS applies. By raising the threshold to £55,000 from the statutory minimum of £50,000 as I have done I have been able to make a number of London primary schools exempt from having to pay the BRS altogether. This includes at least 7 primary schools in Greenwich and 8 in Lewisham. Almost one quarter of the beneficiaries from raising the threshold in Barking and Dagenham, for example, are either primary schools, nurseries or children’s centres.

163 I would like to have made all primary schools and registered charities exempt from the Crossrail BRS. However this would require the Government to change the existing rating legislation – thus allowing me to apply the same exemptions for the BRS.

* River-crossing Question No: 834 / 2010 Len Duvall Can you please update me on you plans for a river crossing east of Tower Bridge? Answer from the Mayor: My draft Transport Strategy, which was recently published for consultation, confirms my view that new river crossings are needed in east London. The recent fire in the Blackwall tunnel highlighted the need to improve the choice and resilience of road crossings in the surrounding area. The northbound Blackwall tunnel is over 100 years old and carries over 50,000 vehicles a day, more than some sections of the M25. The surrounding area is also subject to major growth including the legacy plans for the Olympics and it is essential that the transport network in east London is able to support and help deliver this growth.

TfL is investigating a package of river crossing options across east London aimed at addressing a number of problems. A new road crossing at Silvertown would be better placed to relieve south and east London of the congestion at Blackwall, and TfL is continuing to investigate the best means of providing a new crossing at Silvertown to help provide relief to the area. Other options being considered include improvements for pedestrians and cyclists and the potential for new links in areas of poor connectivity further east. However, it is clear to all that use it that an alternative route to the Blackwall tunnel is becoming essential as part of the regeneration plans for east and south east London.

Infrastructure of this kind does, however, require significant levels of capital expenditure and I have asked TfL to consider alternative sources of funding and finance including PFI credits and the use of tolls.

* Blackwall Tunnel Question No: 835 / 2010 Len Duvall Can you please update me on your plans to improve congestion at the Blackwall Tunnel? Answer from the Mayor: Blackwall tunnels (northbound and southbound) each carry approximately 50,000 vehicles per day in only two lanes of traffic. Morning and evening peaks and traffic incidents, including broken down vehicles, road traffic accidents and over height vehicles (northbound tunnel only) create congestion in the surrounding complex road network. To minimise congestion there are several strategies in place:

• A permanent free vehicle recovery service to remove crash damaged and/or broken down vehicles as quickly as possible; • Timely notification of tunnel incidents to road users and other stakeholders via improved communication between the London Streets Tunnel Operations Centre (LSTOC) and the London Streets Traffic Control Centre (LSTCC); • Refurbishment of the northbound and southbound tunnels will allow traffic management at the tunnels to be implemented more effectively. The southbound works are complete and the northbound refurbishment has commenced, with a completion

164 date of December 2012. The refurbishments include incident detection equipment, extra CCTV cameras and information signage (e.g. variable message signs); • Advance warning signs for over height vehicles are being implemented on the approaches to Blackwall northbound Tunnel; • TfL is working in partnership with VOSA, who carry out spot check on freight traffic to deter illegal and poorly maintained vehicles, and unapproved hazardous materials, from using Blackwall Tunnel. *

Green Economic Development Question No: 836 / 2010 Len Duvall As you will know doubt know, Lord Mandelson recently announced that the government will be investing £70million in three universities to fund high-end engineering and science research and development. One of these institutions is Brunel University, at which the study of Liquid Metals (developing innovative technologies for the reuse and recycling of metal) will be funded. Will you commit to establishing links with the university with a view to helping fully exploit the commercial potential of their work through, for example, the proposed ‘Green Enterprise District’? Answer from the Mayor: I welcome the investment into London's already well established and accomplished research base. Fostering and supporting Research and Development is a core theme of the emerging work on London as a Low Carbon Capital and the Green Enterprise District. This investment will therefore contribute to those aims. I would hope to work with Brunel to maximise the benefit of the investment and explore how this can stimulate related industries through the value chain and create jobs for Londoners.

* LDA Finance Department Question No: 837 / 2010 Len Duvall Can you please provide me with an update on your plans to outsource the services the work of the LDA’s finance department? Answer from the Mayor: The LDA is not planning to outsource its finance function at this time. However it is in the process of procuring a provider to deliver the required robust and effective finance function. Alternative solutions are also under review for the longer term.

*

165 LDA Board Question No: 838 / 2010 Len Duvall Can you please inform me of the total figure for expenses claimed by the LDA board and senior management since you were elected in May 2008? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Response provided on 8 March 2010: For the period May 2008 to 31 December 2009, the total expenses for the Board and senior management amount to £13, 262.20.

As you will see illustrated in the table below, since my election in May 2008 and under new leadership, the LDA has recorded a significant reduction in the amount of expenses claimed by its Board and Senior Management. As a point of principle, the Chair of the LDA Board does not claim any expenses and those of the LDA Board have been negligible.

Amount Claimed in Financial Year (£) 06/07 07/08 08/09 Q1-3 09/10 Previous 2,637.16 2,417.63 1,189.15 N/A Chair LDA Board 386.35 198.00 179.40¹ 12.00 Chief 1,338.33 943.99 777.29² 20.00 Executive Senior 34,919.81 10,310.43 8,372.06 4,813.98 Managemen t Total 39,281.65 13,870.05 10,517.90 4,845.98 1. £179.40: expenses claimed by the previous Board 2. £293.00: expenses claimed by the previous Chief Executive

As part of its drive to improving transparency, from the 2009/10 financial year, the LDA has actively published the expenses incurred by its Board and Senior Management on the LDA website. These are updated on a quarterly basis.

Promote London Council Question No: 841 / 2010 Len Duvall Could you please provide me with an update on the work of the Promote London Council, including the number of meetings that have taken place, whether any of its members have been given portfolios to lead on any specific issues and/or if anybody has been given the responsibility of taking the PLC‘s work program forward

Answer from the Mayor: The Promote London Council (PLC) meets quarterly, to date there have been three meetings of the PLC. The secretariat of the PLC sits within the Economic and Business Policy Unit of the GLA and reports to mayoral advisers Anthony Browne and Dan Ritterband.

Dan Ritterband set up a sub-group to discuss the development of the London Brand (members included Alan Bishop - CEO Southbank Centre, Anya Hindmarch - CEO Anya Hindmarch and Raoul Shah - CEO and Founder, Exposure). More recently the PLC are advising me on the organisational structure of London’s promotional agencies. 166

At the December PLC it was agreed that there should be rationalisation of the GLA’s various overseas promotion agencies and a review should take place to look at potential future options. It was also agreed that member of the PLC Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas should chair this review.

Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas will report the review’s findings to the PLC at the next meeting on 2 March.

“Public Sector Non-Jobs” Question No: 842 / 2010 Len Duvall Your answer to question 275/2010 failed utterly to address the question. Please answer the following question directly, bearing in mind that it has been put to you, as the Mayor of London, in order to ascertain your position: In answer to Written Question 3711/2009, you stated, “the majority of public sector employees have final salary pension schemes which are now rarely provided by the private sector. This is clearly unfair”. I agree entirely that the current situation is unfair but rather than abolish final salary pension schemes in the public sector, would like to see final salary pension schemes return to the private sector. You, alternatively, would appear to want to see everybody, both within the private and public sector, equally impoverished in their old age by poor quality pensions. Why? Answer from the Mayor: I have nothing further to add. Please refer to the answer I gave MQ275 / 2010.

* “Public Sector Non-Jobs” #2 Question No: 843 / 2010 Len Duvall Your answer to question 274/2010 failed utterly to address the question. Please answer the following question directly: In answer to Written Question 3709/2009, you stated that “everybody within the GLA does an important and worthwhile job”, a sentiment I agree with wholeheartedly. Just to clarify then, do you believe that there are any “public sector non-jobs” within the GLA? Answer from the Mayor: I have nothing further to add. Please refer to the answer I gave to MQ274 / 2010.

* Olympic Jobs Question No: 844 / 2010 Len Duvall In answer to Written Question 268 / 2010, you stated that “compliance with contractual requirements, including those contained in the [Memorandum of Agreement] MOA, is verified where applicable during the procurement process for the contracts, and confirmed after award of contract by audit. Audits are performed by Tier 1 contractors on their supply chain”. Please explain to me how these audits are carried out. Do they merely involve the ODA asking the Tier 1 contractors if their sub-contractors are complying and accept their response? Answer from the Mayor: The ODA reviews all Tier 1 audits and checks the accuracy of the results by assurance audit.

167 Olympic Jobs #2 Question No: 845 / 2010 Len Duvall In answer to Written Question 268 / 2010, you stated that the ODA “performs audits on the Tier 1 contractors and their lower tier contractors as part of a planned compliance programme”. Please explain to me how this process works and provide me with the number of audits the ODA has carried out on “lower tier contractors”. Answer from the Mayor: An audit is undertaken by visiting the premises of the contractor concerned. Typically, the ODA auditor will be accompanied by a Tier 1 representative. The auditors review employment documentation for Park employees, for legal and MOA compliance.

Since the most recent ODA audit round began in November 2009, ODA has carried out 39 audits on lower tier contractors.

* Olympic Jobs #3 Question No: 846 / 2010 Len Duvall In answer to Written Question 268 / 2010, you stated, “the ODA’s current assessment demonstrates a direct hire percentage in excess of 65% in the operative workforce on the Olympic Park”. How did the ODA arrive at this figure? Did it carry out a detailed investigation or did it merely ask Tier 1 contractors to provide them with a figure and accept it? Answer from the Mayor: The figure of 65% direct employment was arrived at following a detailed review of employment practices across the Olympic Park, including Tier 1 employment audits and ODA direct and assurance audits.

* Olympic Jobs #4 Question No: 847 / 2010 Len Duvall Does the data - which I do not accept is correct – provided to you by the ODA in relation to direct employment (Written Question 268/2010) refer to employment across the whole Olympic project, including the Olympic village? Answer from the Mayor: The data relates to projects within the scope of the Memorandum of Agreement, which does not include the Olympic Village.

* Olympic Jobs #5 Question No: 848 / 2010 Len Duvall Has the ODA encountered any contractors (either Tier 1 or subcontractors) making unauthorised and unlawful deductions from their employees’ pay for training levy (CITB), administration charges, company insurances or holiday pay?

168 Answer from the Mayor: The ODA has not identified any instances of unauthorised or unlawful deductions relating to Park employees during the current audit programme.

Crossrail Levy Question No: 849 / 2010 Len Duvall You recently exempted 4,000 businesses from the Business Rate Supplement levied to contribute towards Crossrail. Voluntary aided and religious schools have also been exempted from the BRS. Have other, state schools been exempted? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010:

The Government’s business rates legislation does not allow me to exempt state schools as a class from the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement. State schools pay National Non Domestic Rates to the government and are also liable for the Crossrail BRS where their rateable value exceeds £55,000 under the requirements of the Business Rate Supplements Act 2009.

Registered charities are eligible at least 80 per cent relief on both their NNDR and BRS liabilities (if applicable) under existing rating legislation. This relief will apply to independent, religious and voluntary aided schools where they are registered charities as well. This relief can be increased to 100 per cent at the discretion of individual boroughs. Voluntary aided and religious schools are not therefore exempt from the BRS as a group – but receive reliefs for all business rates on the same basis as other charitable organisations.

No such relief arrangements apply for public sector bodies including state schools under existing rating legislation.

By raising the rateable value threshold to £55,000 from the statutory minimum of £50,000 I have exempted around 4,000 properties from the BRS – the overwhelming majority of which are owned or occupied by small businesses. A significant number of state primary schools will also be made exempt as a result.

If the government were to amend existing rating legislation to make this possible I would be very happy to make all state schools and registered charities exempt from the BRS altogether. * Crossrail Levy #2 Question No: 850 / 2010 Len Duvall Have public buildings been exempted from the Business Rate Supplement levied to contribute towards Crossrail? Answer from the Mayor: Officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly.

Additional information provided on 1 March 2010: No. The Government’s business rates legislation does not allow me to exempt public buildings as a class from the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.

169

Public buildings are liable for National Non Domestic Rates and are also liable for the Crossrail BRS where their rateable value exceeds £55,000 under the requirements of the Business Rate Supplements Act 2009.

I do not consider – as a matter of course – that local authority and central government offices should be exempt from the Crossrail BRS. Crossrail will provide enormous benefits to the capital in terms of improved transport infrastructure, new employment opportunities and higher earnings. London boroughs and central government along with their employees will also benefit from this investment.

I do consider, however, that the Government should provide the GLA will the discretion to exempt schools and charities from the BRS.

Personal Grants Question No: 851 / 2010 John Biggs Your report advises (p20) that you provided £100,000 and on p21 £38,785 towards projects. While this personal generosity is commendable how are you ensuring that your personal charitable giving is not confused with your formal actions as Mayor with public money? The vast majority of events and attendances in your monthly report were by advisers, the statutory deputy mayor or, sometimes, your voluntary deputy mayor. Can you list in tabular form the external events attended by advisers or the deputy mayor or another, and reported in your report and, separately, the external events attended by yourself. Can you comment on the appearance from this that you don’t do very much? Answer from the Mayor: Thank you for your helpful clarification. The item you mentioned on pages 20 and 21 of my eighteenth Mayor’s Report relates to expenditure approved from the GLA’s Food Programme.

All the information you ask for is included in the Mayor's Report. It would be a waste of officer time and therefore taxpayers' money to reformat the information already publicly available in the way you have requested.

* Lea River Park Question No: 852 / 2010 John Biggs In celebrating the international award received for this project and claiming it as one of your ‘Great Spaces’ projects you fail to acknowledge that it was actually devised as a project by the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation in partnership with the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority. Why is this? Answer from the Mayor: I have never failed to acknowledge the lead role of the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC) in the Lea River Park. The award was presented to the LTGDC and the LDA’s Design for London (DfL) and acknowledged DfL as the client.

The project is run in partnership with the LDA’s DfL and the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) and is supported by a steering group of LB Newham, LB Tower Hamlets, Transport for London (TfL), LDA, British Waterways, the Port of London Authority (PLA) and the Environment Agency (EA).

170 The LTGDC, as the responsible authority, submitted an application for the ‘Fatwalk’, a part of the Lea River Park, to become part of my ‘Great Spaces’ programme. As a Great Space the project will receive my support, design advice from Design for London, support from other GLA Group bodies and in some cases funding. By making the Fatwalk part of the programme, this doesn’t mean I am taking credit, rather that I am recognising a Great Space.

* Me and my shadow Question No: 853 / 2010 John Biggs How many a. Ministers and b. Shadow Ministers have you formally met in the period of your written report? Since the answer from your report is a. 2 and b. 7 do you think you are neglecting your duties as Mayor and playing politics? Answer from the Mayor: It is my role as Mayor to get the best deal for London from central government of whatever political party. I would be failing in my duty as Mayor if I did not meet both ministers and their shadows.

* King George Hospital Question No: 854 / 2010 John Biggs What is your view on the impact of the proposed closure of the A&E department at the hospital? Answer from the Mayor: My overall priority is for all Londoners to have access to safe, accessible, high quality health services and for health inequalities to be addressed. The question of King George Hospital’s A&E department is the subject of public consultation and I would not want to pre-empt the findings of this consultation exercise.

* Population Data Question No: 855 / 2010 John Biggs What work are you doing to support the case made by several boroughs, including Newham, for more accurate population counts to address the undercounting which affects their resource allocations from Government? Answer from the Mayor: The Intelligence Unit has been represented on the ONS London Reference Group that advised on ONS methodological improvements to the migration distribution to local authorities. The IU responded to the ONS consultation on these issues in January.

The Director of Resources prepared (with IU support) evidence for the House of Commons London Regional Committee on the 2011 Census and allied population topics. Members of the IU have subsequently given oral evidence to the Committee.

These activities have been aimed at improving the accuracy of population counts for London as a whole and for each of the boroughs. *

171 GOB Electrification Question No: 856 / 2010 John Biggs What needs to happen before TfL will actively commit to supporting the electrification of this line, which would better allow its integration into London Overground? Is this a priority for you and who have you met and when to discuss or promote it? Answer from the Mayor: TfL is actively committed to the electrification of the Gospel Oak to Barking route, and the proposed scheme is mentioned in the public consultation draft of my Transport Strategy.

However, TfL is not funded to deliver enhancements like electrification on the National Rail network. Such enhancements (including Gospel Oak – Barking electrification) normally deliver benefits across the rail network as a whole (to freight operators, for example). This means it is often more appropriate that they are planned and funded at the national level.

Despite this, TfL has undertaken work along with Network Rail to establish the outline business case for this project and offered to part fund the process required to estimate its cost and develop the scheme’s engineering detail. I have also discussed the project with the Secretary of State during 2009. I wrote to the Secretary of State on 6 May 2009 to advocate that both parties shared the scheme’s development cost to enable its speedier progress. Network Rail subsequently included the scheme in its Electrification route utilisation strategy in October 2009 as an “in-fill” of strategic importance and in its “Core Strategy”.

** ORN – Traffic Lights (1) Question No: 862 / 2010 Richard Tracey At the IOC’s annual congress in Vancouver, plans were revealed for about 1000 traffic lights in London to be switched off during the Olympics. How far advanced are these plans? Answer from the Mayor: There are no plans to turn off 1,000 traffic lights in London. This has been erroneously reported. However, any potential benefit of switching off or rephasing a small number of lights on the Olympic Route Network (ORN) is being considered by TfL and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). This is one of several measures that could help to deliver the journey time reliability for the Olympic Family as contained in the Host City Contract with the IOC, but would only be used where it could be carried out safely and without prejudicing the needs of pedestrians and vulnerable road users.

* ORN – Traffic Lights (2) Question No: 863 / 2010 Richard Tracey When will a final decision be taken on which traffic lights in London will be switched off during the 2012 Olympics? Answer from the Mayor: There are no plans to turn off 1,000 traffic lights in London. This has been erroneously reported. However, any potential benefit of switching off or rephasing a small number of lights on the Olympic Route Network (ORN) is being considered by TfL and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). This is one of several measures that could help to deliver the journey time reliability for the Olympic Family as contained in the Host City Contract with the IOC, but would

172 only be used where it could be carried out safely and without prejudicing the needs of pedestrians and vulnerable road users.

The detailed design of the Olympic Route Network (ORN) will begin in June 2010 and is expected to be completed in autumn 2011; all decisions regarding the ORN will be made and agreed by this time. *

ORN – Traffic Lights (3) Question No: 864 / 2010 Richard Tracey When will the full list of these traffic lights be made public? Answer from the Mayor: There are no plans to turn off 1,000 traffic lights in London. This has been erroneously reported. However, any potential benefit of switching off or rephasing a small number of lights on the Olympic Route Network (ORN) is being considered by TfL and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). This is one of several measures that could help to deliver the journey time reliability for the Olympic Family as contained in the Host City Contract with the IOC, but would only be used where it could be carried out safely and without prejudicing the needs of pedestrians and vulnerable road users.

It is currently expected that consultation on the proposed ORN traffic orders will start in Autumn 2010.

* ORN – Traffic Lights (4) Question No: 865 / 2010 Richard Tracey What steps are being taken to ensure that pedestrians will still be able to cross the roads when the traffic lights are off? Answer from the Mayor: Where necessary, temporary and alternative pedestrian crossing points will be available. The ORN designs will be subject to safety audits which will ensure the needs of all road users are duly considered.

* ORN – Traffic Lights (5) Question No: 866 / 2010 Richard Tracey What lessons have been learnt from Ealing’s recent trial of traffic-lights-free junctions? Answer from the Mayor: The trial in Ealing is ongoing and at present, results have not been published by the borough. TfL has not observed any concerns for road users, nor have any been reported to them.

*

173 ORN – Traffic Lights (6) Question No: 867 / 2010 Richard Tracey Will the turning off of traffic lights during the Olympics be restricted to the Olympic Route Network? Answer from the Mayor: There are no plans to turn off 1,000 traffic lights in London. This has been erroneously reported. However, Any potential benefit of switching off or rephasing a small number of lights on the Olympic Route Network (ORN) is being considered by TfL and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). This is one of several measures that could help to deliver the journey time reliability for the Olympic Family as contained in the Host City Contract with the IOC, but would only be used where it could be carried out safely and without prejudicing the needs of pedestrians and vulnerable road users.

* Olympic land remediation (1) Question No: 868 / 2010 Andrew Boff When the remediation of land took place on the Olympic Park, how was the radioactive waste found on the site disposed of? Answer from the Mayor: Within the Olympic Park a limited quantity of soil containing low level radioactive waste has been reburied at depth on site in a specifically constructed disposal area. This material has been classified as exempt from the authorisation requirements for accumulation and disposal under the Radioactive Substance Act 1993. A risk assessment was carried out to confirm that this material would not impact either future site occupants. This was done with the ODA working in close partnership with the Environment Agency and the Planning Decisions Team.

In addition, following completion of the disposal area some very low level waste was disposed off site to a suitable licensed landfill.

A small quantity of radioactive waste, such as old instrument dials containing luminous paint, has been temporary stored at the surface of the site in drums awaiting disposal off-site to the National Low Level Radioactive Waste Repository. The drums are currently held in a secure, monitored store, within a fenced compound, under the supervision of radioactive protection specialists, carried out under terms granted by the Environment Agency.

* Olympic land remediation (2) Question No: 869 / 2010 Andrew Boff Was contaminated material left below a depth of 31 inches? Answer from the Mayor: Remediation of the Olympic Park site was undertaken in accordance with the requirements outlined in the 2007 planning approvals. These approvals outlined the level of remediation required to be undertaken to make the site suitable for Games time and the legacy use as outlined in the illustrative 2007 Legacy Masterplan.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) implemented a thorough method of identifying contamination on the Olympic Park, working to guidelines agreed with the Environment Agency

174 and the ODA Planning Decisions Team. Remediation has been undertaken across the site, often at a much greater depth than 31 inches where there have been particular hotspots for example.

If there is any remaining contamination, it is likely to be present at depth, in areas where remediation works were not identified as being required.

* Olympic land remediation (3) Question No: 870 / 2010 Andrew Boff Which statutory bodies were consulted in developing the approach for remediating the radioactive waste found on the Olympic site? Answer from the Mayor: Throughout the land remediation process the ODA consulted with The Planning Decisions Team, the Environment Agency and the Environmental Health officers for the four London Boroughs on the Olympic Park. When dealing with suspected radioactive materials relevant risk assessments were submitted to the Health and Safety Executive.

* Olympic land remediation (4) Question No: 871 / 2010 Andrew Boff Will those who spend a lot of time at the Olympic Park site, e.g. future residents of the Olympic Village, face a health risk from radioactive or contaminated soil buried on the site? Answer from the Mayor: The ODA does not believe there is any current or future health risk. Remediation of the Olympic Park site was undertaken in accordance with the requirements outlined in the 2007 planning approvals. These approvals outlined the level of remediation required to be undertaken to make the site suitable for Games time and legacy use as outlined in the illustrative 2007 Legacy Masterplan

Any remaining contaminated material on site is not detectable at surface level, and is so low it is indistinguishable from natural background radiation in this part of London.

Olympic land remediation (5) Question No: 872 / 2010 Andrew Boff When further development takes place on the Olympic Park after the Games, will it be necessary for the OPLC and developers to undertake remediation work on the land? Answer from the Mayor: The ODA agreed the specification for the remediation with the LDA, as interim legacy client, to ensure that it was consistent with the 2007 illustrative Legacy Masterplan.

It was envisaged that some further remediation could be required as the specific development proposals came forward under the Legacy Masterplan Framework.

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175 Olympic land remediation (6) Question No: 873 / 2010 Andrew Boff Will the Mayor make available all communication between the ODA and the Environment Agency related to the Radioactivity and the Radioactive Substances Act 1993? Answer from the Mayor: I do not hold a copy of such communication and therefore suggest you direct your request to the ODA.

* Route 38 Bus route Question No: 875 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Are any impact assessments taking place following the withdrawal of bendy buses from route 38 and their replacement by higher frequency double-deck buses? Answer from the Mayor: TfL will be monitoring demand for route 38 to confirm that the capacity provided continues to be adequate. It is also monitoring the reliability of the service to confirm that the double deck schedule is correct for the prevailing traffic conditions.

* Bus routes 4 and 43 Question No: 876 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon On average, in any given week, how many journeys are terminated before the route end on bus routes 4 and 43? Answer from the Mayor: For route 4, analysis of TfL performance data indicates that between 30 January and 5 February, there were on average seven journeys that were terminated prior to the usual destination per day in each direction. In total, there are around 100 journeys per day, in each direction.

For route 43, analysis of TfL performance data indicates that between 30 January and 5 February, there were on average eight journeys that were terminated prior to the usual destination per day in each direction. In total, there are around 160 journeys per day, in each direction.

* Canonbury station Question No: 877 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What plans are there to improve the entrance area at Canonbury station as part of the East London Line/Overground station improvements? Answer from the Mayor: The station entrance and, indeed, the entire station will be refurbished and new systems installed as part of London Overground Phase III works and North London Rail Infrastructure Project improvements.

176 * Junction of Lloyd Baker Street Question No: 878 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon What works were carried out by TfL contractors to improve the junction of Lloyd Baker Street, Margery Street, Farringdon Road, Calthorpe Street and King’s Cross Road? Have these works have satisfied resident concerns about pedestrian safety? Answer from the Mayor: Protected pedestrian crossings were provided at each of the arms of this junction to improve safety for pedestrians. The works were completed in November 2009 and the scheme is currently being monitored to ensure that the benefits are being realised.

* Junction of Fieldway Crescent, Madras Place and Holloway Road Question No: 879 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Has a proposal for improvements to safety at the junction of Fieldway Crescent, Madras Place and Holloway Road been agreed and when can residents expect to see the work start? Answer from the Mayor: TfL has been working with LB Islington, Living Streets and Islington Cycle Action Group to develop a preferred and alternative option for the junction layout. The options are now being developed to a more detailed level and modelled in order to inform a decision. At this time TfL cannot provide a date as to when works will begin, however, TfL is aware of the priority given to this scheme and is continuing to work towards a viable solution that delivers genuine benefits to both cyclists and pedestrians. *

Angel town centre Question No: 880 / 2010 Caroline Pidgeon Would TfL be happy to see a similar scheme to that carried out by the local borough and TfL in Kensington High street also happen in Angel town centre as a result of the route 38 consultation and ensuing improvements? Answer from the Mayor: TfL has been working closely with the borough and local Town Centre Group over a number of years over aspirations to enhance the Angel Town Centre area.

After a period of extensive design and consultation, TfL is now on site delivering a package of improvements, which constitute a significant capital investment in the area. The improvements include new crossing facilities, additional cycle parking, removal of street clutter including a significant amount of railings and use of high quality paving materials. Examples of “best practice” set by schemes such as Kensington High Street have informed the design process.

* Anti-Semitic Incidents (2) Question No: 882 / 2010 Brian Coleman How many of the 460 anti-Semitic incidents London in 2009, as reported by the Community

177 Security Trust, have resulted in the arrest of those responsible? How many have resulted in successful convictions? Answer from the Mayor: Of the 460 anti-Semitic incidents reported by the Community Security Trust which took place in London, 203 incidents were referred to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The CST will only usually – as a matter of policy - refer cases to the MPS at the request of victims and complainants.

The 203 referred incidents include a mixture of crime and non-crime offences. The crimes primarily related to malicious communications (there were 26 allegations from a single person relating to internet material), public order, harassment, common assault and criminal damage.

Only crimes where a perpetrator has been identified, can result in the arrest of a perpetrator (where there are reasonable grounds to effect an arrest). Fifty-four cases were classified as crimes. In thirteen of these cases, a total of 15 suspects were identified and, thirteen suspects were arrested.

Seven suspects were prosecuted, two were cautioned and no further action was taken against three other suspects as there was insufficient evidence to do so. One other person is on bail, awaiting a Crown Prosecution Service decision regarding prosecution.

There are no further details at this time regarding convictions data pertaining to the 7 suspects who were prosecuted by the CPS.

* Countdown Indicator Proposals Question No: 883 / 2010 Brian Coleman Whilst I welcome the many new countdown indicators that Transport for London is proposing to install at bus stops in Camden, it is disappointing that up to 45 bus stops could lose their existing indicators without these being replaced. This includes Gospel Oak ward, where it has been proposed to remove 7 indicators without providing any new indicators. Would the Mayor instruct TfL to review these proposals to ensure that all existing indicators are replaced, taking fully into account the views of local councillors in the affected wards? Answer from the Mayor: Through the advances in information technology, TfL is now able to provide a more complete information service showing bus arrival predictions for every one of London’s 19,000 bus stops through a number of different methods, including mobile phone text messages, fixed and mobile web, as well as providing a new generation of 2500 bus shelter mounted signs– an increase of 500 signs across the network.

The proposed allocation of the 2500 signs is to place them to provide the greatest benefit to passengers.

All Boroughs have been supplied with an initial view of how their signs should be allocated and within this ‘pack’ it is proposed that some stops have signs reallocated to more beneficial locations.

Each Borough is reviewing the proposals and TfL is working with them to review any comments or alternative suggestions they may have. It is expected that this process will close in November 2010, at which point the allocation of signs for each borough will be finalised.

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