Subject: Questions to the Mayor – Priority Order (Amended) Report Number: 4 Report To: London Assembly Date: 18/10/06 Report Of: Director of Secretariat
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Subject: Questions to the Mayor – Priority Order (Amended) Report number: 4 Report to: London Assembly Date: 18/10/06 Report of: Director Of Secretariat Report on Olympics Local Employment and Living Wage Question No: 2103 / 2006 Darren Johnson In your role as a member of the Olympics Board, will you ask the ODA to publish figures on local employment and payment of the living wage for workers on the Olympics site in a quarterly report? Mayor’s Report Question No: 2225 / 2006 Murad Qureshi Will the Mayor kindly update his report? Bob Kiley TfL Consultancy Question No: 2383 / 2006 Peter Hulme Cross Given the mayor’s admission that no consolidated list of dates is kept for which Bob Kiley is paid at a daily rate of £3,200, will TfL be reviewing whether it is getting value for money from this arrangement? London Planning Survey - ALG Question No: 2301 / 2006 Tony Arbour The survey carried out by GfK NOP commissioned by the Association of London Government shows that 54% of all Londoners oppose the extension of powers to the Mayor, are you happy to go against the wishes of Londoners? 1 Environmental Taxes Question No: 2175 / 2006 Mike Tuffrey You have stated publicly that you are in broad agreement with Liberal Democrat Tax Strategy. What are you doing to take forward the environmental tax agenda with your colleagues in the Government as well as with major business interests in London? Transport Safer Neighbourhood Teams Question No: 2363 / 2006 Richard Barnes Do you believe that PCSOs will be as effective at tackling crime and anti-social behaviour on the transport network as a fully warranted police officer? Charging for CCTV Footage Question No: 2226 / 2006 Valerie Shawcross What are your views on bus company proposals to charge the police for retrieval of CCTV footage? Dollis Hill House Question No: 2343 / 2006 Bob Blackman Now that the PCT has ruled out any scheme involving the redevelopment of Dollis Hill House and all other avenues have been exhausted, will you now honour the commitment you made before the last Mayoral election to provide a grant of £1 million towards the cost of restoring Dollis Hill House? River Transport Question No: 2391 / 2006 Murad Qureshi Given Angie Bray’s newfound enthusiasm for expanding London’s river transport, which requires substantial subsidy far above that required for buses, where do you anticipate any resistance coming from in the future to your investment in expanding public transport in London? Public Announcement Noise at Tube Stations Question No: 2278 / 2006 Angie Bray Is the Mayor aware that the problem which I brought to his attention regarding Earl’s Court and Putney Bridge stations appears to be much more widespread and seems to be connected to the programme of refurbishment of tube stations? Will the Mayor arrange for an urgent review by Tubelines and Metronet of the PA systems which 2 have been installed as part of the refurbishments with a view to getting them working properly and set to a sensible volume in order to alleviate the misery which residents in many parts of London are suffering from constant noise pollution? Congestion Hot-spots Question No: 2151 / 2006 Geoff Pope What discussions have you held with London Boroughs with a view to tackling their congestion hot-spots through road pricing using ‘tag and beacon’ technology? Taxi Emissions Equipment Question No: 2324 / 2006 Roger Evans Can you detail the test results of all the taxi emissions equipment that has been tested at the Millbrook testing centre? What is the failure rate? Freedom Pass Restrictions Question No: 2228 / 2006 Jennette Arnold Some of my elderly constituents have raised with me that whilst they think its excellent that children up to 18 years old now have free bus passes, they would like the restriction of not being able to use their Freedom Pass until after 9 am removed. This will allow them to use their Freedom Pass to attend important hospital appointments. Will you consider this removal? NHS Deficits Question No: 2372 / 2006 Elizabeth Howlett Does the Mayor believe that the way health service debt is structured and the high interest the government is charging on the debt in London is sustainable, and does he believe there will be an impact on the NHS’ ability to deliver quality services? Increasing Fares Question No: 2230 / 2006 Murad Qureshi Do you agree with Andrew Gilligan’s assertion in the Evening Standard that TfL will increase fares more often ‘once they had us all on Oyster’? 3 Wheelchair Accessible Housing Question No: 2185 / 2006 Dee Doocey Is it acceptable that the target for 10% of all new housing to be wheelchair accessible, in the 2004 London Plan, was set without there being any mechanism to monitor its delivery? Congestion Charge and Foreign Embassies Question No: 2384 / 2006 Damian Hockney How many embassies have outstanding congestion charges? If the mayor is confident in his legal advice that embassies are not exempt from paying the congestion charge under the terms of the Vienna Convention, why is he making no attempt to recover the outstanding amounts through the courts? FOI Requests to the Port of London Authority Question No: 2231 / 2006 John Biggs How do you feel the anomaly, whereby the Port of London Authority is exempt from Freedom of Information requests and appears to have no independent complaints procedure, should be addressed? Is this an issue on which we should be lobbying for change? Congestion Charge - CO2 Emissions Question No: 2277 / 2006 Angie Bray On the 12th July you announced proposals to vary the congestion charge according to vehicle C02 emissions. You stated that you had instructed your staff to bring these plans forward and to launch a consultation on these proposals in the autumn. When will this consultation process start? DLR on West India Quay Question No: 2234 / 2006 John Biggs Tenants and businesses on West India Quay are expressing concern that following the Delta Junction improvements they will lose their DLR service to Bank. What steps can be taken to reassure them and what alternatives are being explored? As the North Quay area is developed with more offices the numbers of people who would have used this station would increase. Has there been adequate modelling of the alternative routes? 4 Systems Associates Question No: 2360 / 2006 Bob Blackman Please detail the reasons for the delays in the IT project being run by Systems Associates which has now been cancelled? Please detail the exact details of the costs of the contract and any termination payments made? Park and Ride Question No: 2152 / 2006 Geoff Pope What steps have you taken to develop the proposal in your Transport Strategy to provide Park and Ride facilities close to the M25 to reduce traffic within Greater London? Can the facilities provided for the 2012 Olympics be retained as a legacy for London? [Note: The following are priority questions, but are not in proportional order.] Food Strategy - Trans Fats Question No: 2227 / 2006 Joanne McCartney In line with the Mayor’s recently issued Food Strategy for London, would the Mayor agree to investigate the decision of the Mayor of New York to ban the use of Trans Fats from food establishments in the city to see if a similar scheme can be introduced to London at the earliest opportunity, to aid the health of Londoners and to protect consumers from sub standard and potential harmful food ingredients? Transport 2025 Question No: 2146 / 2006 Jenny Jones Why does the TfL document 2025 fail to include any proposals on cycling, except those which are due to be completed, or in place by 2009/10? Free Newspapers Question No: 2179 / 2006 Mike Tuffrey Will you ask Associated Newspapers and News International to pay for recycling bins to be provided across London to cope with the new evening free sheets being distributed on the streets? 5 Questions for Written Answer * LDA Developments Question No: 2104 / 2006 Jenny Jones What methods and processes does the LDA use to compare a development’s impacts on climate change, with other priorities, such as regeneration? How do these processes allow the LDA’s decisions on individual developments to keep within the Mayor’s wider targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions? * Police Community Support Officers Question No: 2105 / 2006 Jenny Jones What training and guidance are the transport PCSOs funded by TfL given on leaving cycling lanes clear? * Free Newspapers on the Underground Question No: 2106 / 2006 Jenny Jones Do you agree the distribution contracts for free papers on the tube network should take account of the environmental costs, including waste collection and recycling? * Thames Festival Question No: 2107 / 2006 Jenny Jones What was the total amount of waste produced at the Thames Festival? What proportion went to landfill and what proportion was recycled? * Blackfriars Road Question No: 2108 / 2006 Jenny Jones What consideration has TfL given to making Blackfriars Road a 20 mph zone? * Public Carriage Office and Cyclists Question No: 2109 / 2006 Jenny Jones How many complaints has the PCO received from cyclists about taxi drivers in the last 5 years? What action does the PCO take when it receives a complaint about aggressive or dangerous driving? * 6 Making Cycling Safer in London Question No: 2110 / 2006 Jenny Jones Do you agree with the following suggestion, submitted by a constituent, for making cycling safer in London? “May I suggest that the dangers of cycling in London are often attributable to the total lack of awareness by motorists and lorry drivers of how it feels to cycle in heavy traffic. Many motorists are totally unaware of the fact that cycling is a balancing act, requires space to wobble, to balance, and to put ones foot on the ground occasionally, and so on.