City Hall

Out and About in Redbridge

2012-01-21T13:03:00.002Z

A bright and breezy Saturday morning greeted our Redbridge campaign. In Barkingside I joined local MP Lee Scott, Assembly list candidate Nadia Sharif and local councillors to meet constituents and tell them the good news about Boris freezing the council tax precept for the fourth year in succession. I went on to Woodford where Monkhams councillors were taking the message to local shoppers. Finally I dropped in to Wanstead where Conservative deputy leader Cllr Michelle Dunn and cabinet member Cllr Suzanne Nolan were leading a team sporting blue 'Back Boris' shirts. The response was very positive and there was no sign of Labour's activists.

Elm Park Station

2012-01-20T18:21:00.002Z

A busy weekend of campaign activity kicked off at Elm Park Station this evening as I joined local councillors Jeff Brace and Barry Oddy, to meet commuters and explain plans for improving the District Line. The work has been going on for some time, patience is short, and a signal failure didn't help the mood. On the positive side, the local police were there with their knife arch, searching suspects, deterring crime and helping everyone feel safe. This is a busy station in the heart of Havering and we were encouraged by the positive response from commuters who we spoke to.

Transport Debate

2012-01-17T14:18:00.002Z

An interesting and wide ranging transport committee meeting took place this morning.

Hammersmith Flyover

Leon Daniels from TfL gave us an update on Hammersmith Flyover, which was closed for emergency work over Christmas and the New Year. One lane is now open and operating in each direction whilst work takes place to replace steel cables inside the unique 1961 structure. The new cables will be made of stronger steel and with the concrete still in very good condition, the strengthened flyover is expected to last for several decades. Only one section was found to be badly damaged so the emergency work is going to be less than expected.

River Transport

Sean Collins from Thames Clippers appeared alongside TfL, the PLA and my colleague Dick Tracey, taking questions in his role as Mayoral Ambassador for River Transport. Over ten years the number of river passengers had grown from 1.6 million to 4.1 million per year - not including the 2 million users of the Woolwich Ferry. Of these, two thirds were commuters with the remainder being tourists.

4.1 million sounds like a lot but it is no more than an average suburban bus route would transport over twelve months. The Mayor's ambition was to get the number up to 12 million per year. With 10 million per year using river services in Brisbane - a much smaller city - this target was felt to be reasonable. In Brisbane a milder climate, better coordination with bus routes and the lack of an underground railway had all contributed to the high numbers.

Dick talked about plans to extend river services upstream with commuter boats calling at Putney. Further west would be more difficult because the water was relatively shallow at low tide. I asked about plans to extend services downstream to Rainham, allowing commuting from Essex and improving access to the nature reserve at Rainham Marshes. Sean Collins was very positive, stating that a service already ran to Tilbury, although it only served cruie ship passengers currently. Dick talked about introducing a park and ride facility at Rainham, encouraging commuters to leave their cars just where the A13 became congested.

Tube Extensions

Witnesses from TfL discussed the Tube extensions currently under consideration.

The most advanced of these is the Northern Line extension to Battersea. With a price tag of £900 million, private sector financing is essential so the plans had been set back when Treasury Holdings, the private funder, collapsed before Christmas. Despite this TfL are continuing with the Transport & Works Act application to Parliament, in the hope that a new developer can be found. For the longer term they are planning to extend the line to Clapham Junction.

An extension to the Croxley branch of the Metropolitan Line, linking with Watford Junction, is supported by TfL but funding and promotion will be carried out by Herts County Council as the project is outside the Greater London boundary.

Extension of the Bakerloo Line to South East London is supported in the longer term. Caroline Pidgeon and Jenny Jones were very much in favour as they live in Camberwell Green. Funding is not available and the Bakerloo Line upgrade needs to be completed before the 'Camberloo Extension' is considered.

Central Line extensions east to Harlow and west to Uxbridge are being considered, but the business cases are questionable.

Crossrail 2 - previously known as Chelsea to Hackney - is climbing up the list of priorities, spurred on by the agreement of HS2.

Stations

We also examined progress on major station upgrades.

Tottenham Court Road is being enlarged to lift its capacity from 145,000 per day to 250,000 per day - more than the throughput of Heathrow. There will be disabled access and a link to the new Crossrail station. At a cost of £500 million I asked London Underground to consider enlarging the bus stands on the surface, thus making it possible to terminate more services there and relieve bus crowding in Oxford Street.

Victoria is also being enlarged to improve capacity and create a new ticket hall, at a cost of £580 million.

The new Crossrail station and increased capacity at Bond Street is expected to cost £285 million.

Disabled access and improvements to the Hammersmith & City platforms at Paddington are relatively cheap - only £53 million.

A major upgrade at Bank will improve capacity and provide new lifts to street level at an expected cost of £600 million. I suggested that they provide a moving travelator between the Bank and Monument platforms as the walking distance is considerable - much as London Underground have done at Waterloo.

I also suggested that London Underground raise the priority of lift installation at Newbury Park. With a price tag of no more than £20 million this represents a comparatively small investment, yet with National Express East Anglia using the station for their passengers during Liverpool Street line closures, disabled access will benefit many passengers. Network Rail might even be persuaded to stump up some cash for this project.

Mansion House Speech

2012-01-13T07:47:00.002Z

Last night I attended the star studded annual London Government Dinner at the Mansion House. Apart from being a high point in the London social calendar, the dinner - hosted by the Lord Mayor - provides an opportunity to hear the elected Mayor of London set out his priorities for the coming year in his after dinner speech.

Boris was on good form, infectiously optimistic about the Olympics and drawing comparisons with the austerity games of 1948 when Canada donated the wood for the diving boards, the running track was paved with cinders and the visiting athletes were accommodated in draughty school halls. Britain came 12th in the medals stakes, despite Russia and Germany not taking part. Boris expects us to do better than that in 2012.

He also spoke about prioritising London's road network for future investment. The recent closure of the Hammersmith Flyover - and earlier problems at Gallows Corner and Gants Hill - resulted from years of under investment. The Labour government and the Livingstone regime had thoughtlessly pursued an anti car policy without understanding that cyclists and buses relied on the crumbling roads as well as motorists. In addition to more investment in maintenance and new road schemes there would be a new river crossing via a tunnel at Silvertown. As from this morning, Boris announced, the Hammersmith Flyover would reopen one lane in each direction - he got half a cheer for that...

Budget Round Opening Skirmishes

2012-01-11T14:02:00.002Z

The Budget Committee has been meeting to consider its response to the Mayor's budget proposals - the fourth and final budget round of Boris's first mayoral term.

Last week we questioned the transport commissioner, chairman of LFEPA, deputy mayor and senior representatives of the Metropolitan Police. Yesterday it was the Mayor's turn in the spotlight.

Council Tax Freeze

The headline news is that the council tax precept is to be frozen for the fourth year in a row, leaving the budget exactly where we found it after Livingstone lost power in 2008. In real terms inflation makes this a 12% cut as opposed to the 153% increase that occurred under the Livingstone regime when costs were allowed to let rip. It is a considerable achievement and almost as impressive is the fact that it is no longer debated by the major parties. We can expect to see alternative proposals from the other groups which also leave the council tax frozen. Indeed the Lib Dem's Mike Tuffrey was asking Boris for a council tax cut yesterday - thus stealing the question that I usually pose - so coalitionism is clearly having a positive effect on our partners.

Policing

The opposition are keen to discuss the changing number of police officers and other crimefighters in the capital. Facing a difficult budget gap, the police are fighting to maintain officer numbers whilst making savings in support services, procurement and property. A £30 million saving from the LFEPA budget has been offered up to help them bridge the gap this year, but further government funding is required and negotiations with the Home Office are still ongoing.

Boris seemed quite upbeat on the prospects for a successful conclusion when we saw him yesterday. Senior police officers were also positive last week, with Acting Deputy Commissioner Cressida Dick maintaining that services would not be harmed and the crime fighting capacity of the MPS would be kept up. The aim is to have some 32,300 fully warranted officers in post in March - 1,000 more than when Boris came to power, but a fall on more recent numbers.

The Met is one of the few police forces still recruiting new officers and these are being drawn largely from the ranks of PCSOs and special constables. The number of specials has grown over the mayor's term but the promotion of good PCSOs - which none of us want to stifle - is leaving vacancies which will take time to fill. The police have undertaken to recruit to those vacancies but some may be unfilled by May, leading to concerns for the future should the mayor's priorities change.

Other question marks hang over the Met budget, with the cost of the August riots still not fully clear and big bills expected for policing the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the Olympic Games.

Transport

Opposition parties are seeking to make fares a key issue in the coming election. Livingstone has made his usual promise to cut fares if he is elected, but the promise extends no further than the coming year and he has form for freezing fares in election years then jacking them back up in subsequent budgets.

Labour are claiming that TfL has a massive underspend which could fund a fares cut, however TfL pointed out that they have failed to consider cuts to the grant from government and pressures caused by higher passenger numbers - the Tube had its busiest year ever in 2011, and there was a 50 year high for bus passengers. Deputy Chairman Daniel Moylan states that "There is no fairy money under a toadstool!". Perhaps Labour's 'Fares Fair' campaign should be renamed 'Fares Fairy'...

Within TfL Project Horizon is delivering cuts to bureaucracy by combining functions between TfL and London Underground. The number of directors has been cut by 25% as have the budgets for back office activities. At last the combining of the various transport providers under the TfL umbrella is delivering economies of scale.

Fire Brigade

Under Brian Coleman, LFEPA has made considerable savings and has even helped to bail out the police budget this year. Reserves have been cut to £24 million which we were assured is sufficient to cover unexpected costs. Training is being contracted out and this is expected to deliver further cost reductions.

Shared Services

The impetus of a tough budget round has pushed GLA functional bodies into serious consideration of shared services, achieving economies of scale right across the group. At TfL the progress is mainly being achieved between its own departments and transport providers. Within the police service sharing is largely being done across the Greater London boundary, with cooperation from other neighbouring forces. However there is still much to be done to achieve economies across the whole group - for example, the MPA now audits the GLA as well as the police, the GLA now supports LFEPA meetings as well as London Assembly meetings. Boris has made it clear that this is one of his top priorities for the coming year.

As the budget debate heats up, the most contentious issues are revealing themselves - council tax, fares, police numbers and bureaucracy.

New Year at Wanstead

2012-01-03T09:24:00.002Z

This morning I joined local Conservatives at Wanstead Station to greet travellers and explain Boris Johnson's transport investment plan. On the Central Line there will be new stations at Bank, Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street, designed to relieve overcrowding and provide easy access to Crossrail. On the District Line we can look forward to a new station at Victoria - the busiest on the Tube - and new air conditioned trains, to be accommodated in the enlarged depot at Upminster.

The investment programme also means more construction jobs for Londoners, with 14,000 created by Crossrail and 18,000 by the Tube upgrades.

Despite the strong winds, darkness and pouring rain, we got a friendly reception from the people we met. A few Labour people turned up later to promote their fare cutting plans which would endanger the upgrades, and there was even a rumour that Ken Livingstone was going to put in an appearance. I expect we will be seeing a lot of each other in 2012...

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T09:38:00.002Z

It is time to wish everyone well for 2012. The last year has really flown past, but the coming twelve months present a greater challenge.

The first four months will see some determined campaigning leading up to the London elections on May 3rd. In an action replay of 2008 it's Boris vs Ken vs Brian Paddick once again, with all three candidates looking older and more experienced.

Then - after a brief pause for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - we can look forward to the Olympics, bringing a great spectacle and hopefully a lot of extra business to the capital. Reaping the maximum benefit whilst minimising the disruption to a city that never sleeps will be a considerable challenge.

After the Paralympics close and everyone heads home, we can begin the clean up and heave a sigh of relief that it all went off so well - which should take us nicely to Christmas!

For some it has already been a Happy New Year, with Merton and Westminster coming joint first in the float contest at the New Year Parade. Westminster's float featured deputy leader Cllr Robert Davis decked out as Captain Hook on a magnificent galleon. Despite the rain many spectators turned out and everyone enjoyed themselves. Not a bad result for Redbridge either - they came fifth, scooping a £3,000 prize.

Council Tax Freeze

2011-12-22T11:55:00.002Z

Boris has published his proposals for the 2012-13 budget. In the forward he states:

I am delighted to announce that as part of my budget for 2012-13, I will again be able to freeze the GLA's Council Tax precept. This means that I have not increased the Council Tax throughout the whole of my first administration. After eight years of continuous rises amounting to an aggregate increase of over 150 percent under my predecessor, the GLA's Council Tax precept has been reduced in real terms by 12 percent under this administration.

Londoners are getting an early Christmas present from their mayor!

The Bendy End

2011-12-09T09:04:00.002Z

Today sees the last of the bendy buses making their last drive through London. Route 207 from Hayes is the last to be 'debendified', with standard double deckers replacing the unpopular articulated vehicles. Reduced fare evasion on the former bendy routes is set to save TfL over £5 million per year.

Meanwhile the first of the new super clean Boris Buses is due to arrive in the capital. In the coming months eight prototype models will be tested on London's streets to see how they stand up to our stop-start traffic and heavy passenger volumes. With any problems identified and resolved this trial should pave the way for their arrival en masse after the Olympics.

Like buses, the delivered manifesto promises arrive in twos...

Sponsoring London

2011-12-08T12:40:00.003Z

This morning the budget committee took evidence from TfL deputy chairman Daniel Moylan. We were looking at the sponsorship deals for the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme and the Emirates Cable Car, as well as future options for exchanging private money for publicity or naming rights.

A Question of Taste

Daniel accepted that there were limits imposed by generally accepted considerations of good taste.

The McDonalds Buckingham Palace Experience would in his view be a step too far, and I'm inclined to agree.

Renaming Knightsbridge Station as Harrods would also be off the agenda - although I can't see why, given that many of the passengers travelling to Knightsbridge are heading for the upmarket department store, indeed a renaming in this case might actually help tourists to find their way. Naming a station after a football club would be considered, indeed Arsenal set the trend many years ago.

A proposal to temporarily rename Oxford Circus as Oxford Landing (after a brand of wine) had been turned down as failing just about every test that TfL applied to sponsorship.

And the Spearmint Rhino Cable Car, whilst never on offer would have been deemed inappropriate too - as well as distracting from the river crossing views...

And whilst having short term loanmakers Wonga.com sponsoring free travel on New Year's Eve was not seen as a mistake, it seemed pretty clear that there would be no repeat of this donation.

And the agreement cuts both ways, so if strikes or inefficiencies damage the services then the sponsors would be entitled to some of their money back. In the case of the cable car, TfL have to provide 97% reliability over 28 days or Emirates get a partial refund.

Future Deals

An agreement to sponsor free bottled water on the Tube during hot weather had been reached in the past and would be considered for the future.

Venezuelan support for public transport had been agreed in the past but would not be considered by the current administration.

I was keen that TfL explore options for smaller sponsors to contribute to smaller and lower profile schemes. For example, the abandoned project to install a lift at Newbury Park would only cost a couple of million and this could be sought in part from the large superstores near to the station. Or Romford Bus Station - currently a confusing and dirty maze for non locals - could be reorganised and cleaned up using contributions from local businesses in return for permanent publicity. The director from TfL said that options for lower level sponsorship were being considered.

Boris Visits Rainham

2011-12-01T15:58:00.002Z

This morning Boris arrived in Rainham to see at first hand how the council is transforming this quiet corner of Havering. Joined by council leader Michael White, he visited Rainham Marshes to see a new walkway leading from the station to this nature reserve which provides a refuge for wild geese, voles and the sociable lapwing. We went on to help children plant bulbs in the gardens of historic Rainham Hall, a National Trust property. Then there was just time to squeeze in a tour of the village and observe the new shop fronts and the Christmas lights all funded by the Mayor's Outer London Fund.

Olympic Transport Update

2011-11-15T22:22:00.003Z

This morning the transport committee took evidence from Deputy Mayor Isobel Dedring and Olympic transport bosses from LOCOG, TfL and the ODA.

We discussed the challenges faced at some of the stations on London Underground and the main line:

Stratford - of course, where the real challenge will be handling the peaks in traffic as the Olympic Park venues empty after events.

London Bridge - with conflicting flows, commuters coming into town at the same time as spectators leave on the trains to Greenwich and the Jubilee Line to Stratford.

Liverpool Street - also with conflicting traffic, commuters coming into town and spectators leaving for Stratford on the Central and main lines.

Waterloo - with heavy traffic on South West Trains and the Jubilee Line.

Kings Cross / St Pancras - a confusing environment above and below ground, with heavy volumes expected on Eurostar, main lines and the many Underground lines that converge here. The Javelin service direct to Stratford will be a key link, leaving St Pancras.

Green Park - with heavy traffic to see the big screen sites and of course the beach volleyball.

Walking and cycling to the games will be encouraged, however the Greenway south of the main stadium will be closed for the duration. This section along the top of the Northern Outfall Sewer forms the last section of the Capital Ring, which will be diverted through the Olympic Park.

We were assured that the Olympic Route Network will affect only 1% of the capital's roads and the Games Lanes, intended for exclusive use by Olympic traffic will only be a third of that. Nevertheless there will be pinch points and the committee particularly want to see details of the arrangements for the Blackwall Tunnel. London Councils are asking to be allowed to operate temporary car pounds for vehicles cleared from the ORN but whether this is a helpful offer of assistance or a bid to get a share of the money from fines is unclear...

Heckling At Hornchurch

2011-11-13T07:07:00.003Z

Our own Queen's Theatre are currently staging Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and soon they will be hosting Cinderella as the festive season gets under way. On Monday night we sandwiched Peoples' Question Time into their busy schedule.

It's a long way out to Hornchurch on the District Line - over 40 stops from Richmond and I pay tribute to West London colleagues like Tony Arbour who made the trek. However only 14 of the Members turned up which was a bit disappointing - on the bright side, it did allow me to call every one of them to speak, and some got two bites of the cherry. I chaired what proved to be a raucous event.

Boris opened the meeting with one of his traditional barn storming speeches. For once I didn't take in much of the content as I was due to call Assembly Chair Jennette Arnold next and she hadn't arrived. If she didn't get there, who would give the Assembly update? Deputy Chair Dee Doocey wasn't there either, nor was previous Chair Darren Johnson. In fact none of the Members present had chaired the Assembly! What to do? Boris drew to a close and sat down to much applause..... The Jennette arrived, delays on the District Line we were told. She went straight into her speech, providing a useful update on Assembly activities.

Jennette was not the last to arrive - John Biggs slipped in, stage left, some time later. The DLR was playing up too...

Policing

We have a well rehearsed format for these occasions by now. The first item to be discussed was policing and crime.

A young man got to his feet to tell us that he had been attacked and knifed. His attacker was caught but got only two years inside, and he didn't feel this was long enough. Neither did the audience, judging by their reaction. Neither did Boris.

Someone asked what we were doing to tackle gangs and knife crime amongst young people. With Kit Malthouse away on paternity leave in Canada - he has had twins - I called James Cleverly to update the audience on the Time For Action strategy to beat youth crime.

A man from St Andrew's Church asked about metal thefts. This is a particularly topical question as thieves have been climbing onto the church roof to steal copper, with up to seven such incidents this year. The church - the Horned Church after which the town was named - is left with a leaking roof and volunteers sleeping inside, in an attempt to deter further thefts.

Aware of time constraints - always a challenge at PQT - I tried to call more questions but the guys at the front wanted their metal theft issue dealt with first. Boris chipped in on their behalf and I could see there was a danger - ever present - of him hijacking the chairing, so I let him carry on. He condemned the thieves who are targeting not only roofs but also BT cables, railway signals, war memorials and even drain covers, and he stated that these thefts should attract longer sentences. There should also be more controls over scrap metal dealers who accepted the stolen metal for cash in hand, no questions asked.

A woman from Haringey asked about crime in her area. I called Joanne McCartney who represents the borough, but Joanne had been equipped with statistics about crime in Havering by her diligent Labour researchers, so her response made us look like a hotbed of crime in comparison. I'd still prefer a night out in Hornchurch to a night out in Tottenham - and didn't we have to search the attendees for weapons when PQT went there a few years ago?

Transport

This session began with a question about ongoing closures of the District Line - a hot topic judging by the audience reaction, not to mention my own frustrations on far too many weekends. Boris replied that the weekend closures were not 'some random act of sadism' but were necessary to upgrade the line, and we would have longer and more frequent trains as a result. I hope things really do improve, and that there is an end to the disruptive closure programme.

A lady asked why there weren't more buses in her area. Boris asked his transport advisers to take a note and find out. He also told her that up to date information on bus times is now available by text, just a mobile phone click away.

A woman in a wheelchair asked why more disabled ramps on buses were not working. Boris reassured her that no bus is allowed to leave the depot without a working ramp. However my own postbag tells a different story and this is clearly becoming more of a problem - either the ramps aren't working or the drivers are avoiding using them.

A large man had a go about the Low Emission Zone, another hot topic in Hornchurch. Delaying the unpopular third phase two years ago was absolutely right, but introducing it a couple of months before the election may be a strategic political error. Boris stated that he had been prepared for this question - 'surely not!' I interjected, we weren't given notice of ANY of the questions - there was much hooting from the audience. Mike Tuffrey plugged his idea for a higher cost Central London zone, which looks attractive as it targets the problem and leaves Outer London alone.

An Asian man raised the question of access to Chadwell Heath Station where some very steep temporary steps are currently in place. Hopefully some proper ramps and lifts should be provided as part of the Crossrail upgrade in the next few years.

Another man asked for a progress upgrade on the cable car. Boris gave an enthusiastic response. John Biggs, in his seat by now, gave a more grumpy one and championed Ken Livingstone's support for the Thames Gateway Bridge. The bridge was cheered but Ken was booed.

Environment

As I opened this session a dozen young protesters stood up at the back and started chanting. They were out of synch with each other and several were Germans, so it was difficult to tell what they were saying, but I could tell the verse would take some time to complete. I asked them to stop and was ignored. Asked them to leave, ignored again. Asked security to clear the row, which they did, throwing around a dozen people out. There was a pause as order was restored.

Someone shouted 'Get a Job!', drawing loud applause. I warned that anyone else pulling stunts would also be asked to leave, as they were taking time from the public who had come to ask their questions. Most people clapped but a few sat looking sullen. There were no more interruptions...

A woman asked a technical question about recycling. Luckily James Cleverly chairs the London Waste and Recycling Board, so I called him to give a suitably technical response.

Someone asked about Boris Island airport proposals and the Mayor gave a stirring defence of his plans, which are looking more plausible with the government decision not to expand Heathrow.

Olympics

An older man stood to read out his question, which ran to several pages, some stuck together. Alarmed, I sought to cut him short but he wasn't having it and the audience wanted him to continue. He wondered why Londoners had been landed with the lion's share of the bill for what was a national event - a view shared by many others in the hall. Boris stated - correctly - that this was part of the deal done by his predecessor and the Labour government.

As was the plan for an extensive Olympic Route Network of restricted lanes during the Games. Boris had worked to reduce the size of this network and its times of operation.

Jennette Arnold said we should applaud Ken Livingstone for bringing the Olympics to London. Two people clapped - or perhaps it was one person and an echo...

The unfair allocation of tickets was raised. Boris informed the audience that another tranche of tickets would go on sale in the Spring. I told them that Olympic bosses had assured us that unsuccessful applicants from the first ballot would have priority for this tranche.

Other Business

The final session returned to the St Paul's protesters - referred to as 'crusties' by the Mayor earlier. Several people got up to defend the right to protest and to attack the evils of capitalism. One man acknowledged that the protests seemed incoherent but they were no less passionate for all that and he felt their demands would become clearer as their numbers swelled. I'm not so sure - crowds follow strong ideas, but ideas don't follow crowds.

An electrician asked why more locals hadn't been employed building the Olympic site. He got the standard response that most of the workers had an East London address - but they are hardly likely to commute from Eastern Europe, and I think he has a point.

Aftermath

Boris was mobbed by an adoring crowd as proceedings came to an end. I headed to the bar for a stiff one and ended up chatting to a couple of the more vociferous questioners - friendly people with genuine concerns.

My Labour opponent was in the bar too so I took the opportunity to introduce myself. Mandy is a youth worker from Hackney and still keen to do the job after sitting through the two hour Question Time.

All in all, a good session with a lot of meaningful questions and quite detailed answers. A good turnout on a cold autumn evening, by the audience if not by Members...

Budget Committee

2011-11-02T10:33:00.002Z

Yesterday's budget committee took evidence from the Metropolitan Police about Olympic security and responding to the riots.

Olympic Security

Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison is the national Olympic security coordinator. He has a budget of £600 million to guarantee public safety outside the Olympic venues - inside, the security is the responsibility of LOCOG. He refused to predict the total security costs because a wide range of variables are still in play.

However the initial policing operation had achieved an underspend. Recruitment to the Olympic Security Directorate had been lower than expected, with experienced officers proving reluctant to leave their secure jobs for a short term project in uncertain times. At the end of August they were therefore under strength by 59 staff, 18% of the establishment. Mr Allison was confident that all these posts would be filled by April 2012.

Capital spending had also been lower than expected , coming in around £6 million under budget in the first quarter. Mr Allison put this down to good project management, but I pointed out that one man's good project management is another man's over budgeting. He assured us that the budget was likely to be fully committed by the end of the year because other projects were proving to be more costly, an example being the provision of police radio coverage in the Olympic Village.

Mr Allison was also keen to assure us that the level of abstraction of police from their home boroughs to supplement security was not going to be any higher than the routine experiences of covering football matches and other large events in the capital.

The Riots

The committee explored the extent of liabilities resulting from claims under the Riot Damages Act. Bob Atkins, Treasurer of the MPA, told us that they had received 3844 applications for compensation under the Act. The smallest of these were for sums around £50k but the largest was for £100 million. Total costs were still being assessed but he expected the Home Office to meet a large part of the bill.

Boris Is Coming

2011-10-31T17:52:00.002Z

...to Hornchurch.

Yes, it's Peoples' Question Time again, two hours of live questions and - hopefully - answers at the well appointed Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch - with Yours Truly chairing! The event takes place in the evening on Monday 7th November. It is free but demand for places means that you have to register to attend, and you can do this at http://www.london.gov.uk/ .

It promises to be a lively evening and we are expecting a good crowd.

Hospital Disappointment

2011-10-28T10:41:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was D-Day for the future of health services in Havering and Redbridge. The morning saw the publication of the Care Quality Commission report into failings in the maternity unit at Queens Hospital. The report was so damning that it led the evening news bulletins and was even covered on Channel 4.

Hot on its heels came the long awaited report from the Independent Review Group looking at the proposal to move maternity and A & E Services out of King Georges Hospital into the much criticised Queens. This is an interesting and detailed report which certainly acknowledges the failings of both services at Queens. My submission which covered future demand and the challenges of transport to Queens has clearly been taken into account. So has the widespread fear - not too strong a word - expressed by patients and their local representatives, at the prospect of being forced into an already overloaded and failing site.

Unfortunately the evidence from local hospital managers and GP groups seems to have won the day, with the IRP concluding that concentrating services at Queens is the only way to improve them - a seemingly perverse proposition in current conditions. The hospital management have plans to improve both maternity and A & E and these plans include work to enlarge the buildings housing the units. The IRP agreed that services should move to Queens but only after the performance of this hospital had been improved.

The Secretary of State has agreed with the IRP conclusions.

So the campaign to save services at King Georges needs to consider its next move. We have to go through both reports in detail, questioning some of the assumptions made and the weight placed on evidence from service users as opposed to service providers. The decision could still be challenged and I believe we will find good grounds to do so.

And we also need to ask how much services at Queens need to improve before the move goes ahead. This must involve the completion of the physical enlargement of both units, but we also need to know how service improvement - particularly patients' experiences - will be measured and how confidence will be restored. How will we know if the services have improved sufficiently and what happens if they fail to achieve the target?

Most importantly we need to maintain the political unity that has seen figures as diverse as Andrew Rosindell and Margaret Hodge come together to defend our hospitals and constituents.

Olympic Questions

2011-10-19T14:01:00.002+01:00

This morning saw the latest appearance of Olympic officials before the Assembly. With less than a year to go members were keen to ensure that concerns around transport and ticketing were allayed.

Ticketing

First in front of the meeting were Seb Coe and Paul Deighton of LOCOG, the games organisers.

With plans for another sale of tickets in April 2012, they stated that lessons had been learned from the first tranche of sales, where some people had obtained all the tickets they applied for but around one million were left unsatisfied.

The April ticket sale would avoid the use of a ballot and would be an on line first come first served exercise. Priority would be given to the million unsuccessful applicants from the first tranche and the number of tickets per person would be tightly limited to ensure wider availability. All the events and venues would be available, but precise numbers were not yet known because plans for seating at some events were not finalised. In particular, the opening ceremony was dependent on lighting, TV sight lines and space for the show so the number of tickets on sale was not finalised. I hoped that the majority of seats would be filled by member of the public rather than sponsors, VIPs and Olympic officials.

Transport

Yesterday was not good at Liverpool Street. Overnight storms brought down the power lines, leaving only three platforms in operation, and the severe disruption lasted all day. The problems were compounded by a lack of information for commuters about alternative routes - a situation that would be much worse should an incident occur during the games with crowds of non English speaking visitors milling about in confusion.

Witnesses from TfL and the ODA assured me that the new control centre at their Pallestra HQ would make managing such situations much easier. I have toured the centre with colleagues and it is certainly most impressive - but I didn't see much evidence of cooperation with Network Rail and the operators. Let's hope we won't face the ultimate test.

TfL were castigated for their plans to close 51 pedestrian crossings to smooth the flow of traffic in Games Lanes. There was also concern about Greenwich Council's plans to fine drivers £500 for parking illegally on their streets during 'Games Time'. The line between deterrent and cash cow is a fine one in this case.

MQT - Two Bridges Too Far

2011-10-17T11:15:00.003+01:00

Two issues involving bridges featured in Wednesday's Questions to The Mayor.

The first of these was the long running saga of the Central Line bridge over Forest Road next to Fairlop Station. This bridge has a sorry history of being struck by over height vehicles. The lorries come out of the Hainault trading estate or the nearby gravel pits and are directed towards the bridge by their satnav systems. Because the drivers are foreign they cannot read the various warning signs. Satnavs are available for over height vehicles but unfortunately the hauliers penny pinch and use systems for ordinary cars.

Raising the bridge would involve raising the embankment and the station, so is prohibitively expensive. Lowering the road - a solution used elsewhere - is impossible because of cables and pipes running beneath the surface. Concrete beams are in place to protect the bridge in case of a strike but this does nothing to safeguard vehicles and pedestrians on the road, and local residents fear there will be a fatality if the accidents continue.

I suggested restricting the road width - as TfL have done for Network Rail's weak bridge in Romford - thus prohibiting large vehicles completely. Boris promised to consider this option and I am sure Redbridge Council will want to help.

The second bridge under discussion actually doesn't exist any more. There was a pedestrian bridge over the A12 near its junction with Mawney Road in Romford, but some years ago now it was struck by another over height vehicle and had to be removed. Residents were effectively cut off from Romford Town Centre and the local councillors organised a petition calling for a replacement bridge. I presented this to the Mayor and TfL at an Assembly meeting.

The response from Ken Livingstone - yes it was that long ago - was that disability laws required a long ramp and that there was insufficient space at the location for a larger bridge. TfL would therefore create a crossing at road level with pedestrian lights.

After much delay the crossing was opened in the Summer - then closed again because of the danger posed by U-turning vehicles. Those of us who use the A12 know that U-turning is a common feature at all the cross roads leading up to Gallows Corner, but that fact appears to have passed TfL by. Boris assured me that the crossing would be reopened following the introduction of extra safety measures.

This has been a fiasco, highlighting the way that well meaning equality and health & safety regulations can actually strangle progress and make things worse for the community. The failure to plan for the U-turns is particularly unforgiveable.

Labour saw this MQT as an opportunity to criticise fare increases, but they are themselves saddled with Ken's unrealistic pledge to cut fares by 5% - whilst going around town promising expensive transport projects for which there is no money even with fares going up. In the circumstances they pressed their attack without much enthusiasm.

They had a bit more luck with Len Duvall's questions about proposals for a new floating park along the north side of the Thames. The Sunday Times questioned the finances behind the project - and it is difficult to see how it can make its money back - whilst high profile riverside residents and the City Corporation are unimpressed by the concept. This scheme looks unlikely to float.

Recognition for Heroes of August

2011-10-16T12:45:00.002+01:00

Thursday evening saw a reception at City Hall to thank the volunteers and council staff who went the extra mile during the August riots and the subsequent clean up. Firefighters, police and the broom wielders of Battersea were all congratulated by Assembly chair Jennette Arnold. A contingent from Redbridge included CCTV operators, youth workers and public protection officers who made a fantastic contribution, clearing up the debris, mitigating the damage and reassuring the community.

Transport Committee

2011-10-11T17:50:00.003+01:00

This morning Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy made his first appearance in front of our committee for some time. Unsurprisingly, the debate was wide ranging.

Olympics

Preparation for the 2012 games is foremost in the minds of TfL managers at this time. They assured us that all the capital works - London Overground, Javelin Link, Jubilee Line and DLR Extension - were completed. Efforts would now be focused on the most affected parts of Central and East London, with employers being helped to brief their staff. Tube upgrades on the Jubilee and Victoria Line would be finished and bedded in by July.

With 3,000 buses and coaches expected to converge on London the Olympic Lanes would be full. Expected crowding at Greenwich had led TfL to ask LOCOG not to issue any more tickets for the equestrian events based in Greenwich Park.

Cable thefts had affected the surface lines more than London Underground where there had only been three incidents, one on the Jubilee and two attempted thefts at the east end of the Central Line.

The committee moved on, promising to undertake a more detailed review in the run up to the games.

Buses

With 20% of the UK's bus fleet based in London, members had plenty of questions for Peter Hendy.

The challenging financial situation required a delicate balancing of subsidy, demand and km travelled. In Central London the growth in cycling had freed up spaces on the buses as passengers took to two wheels. Some services had seen their frequency reduced but so far the experience of passengers had not been affected.

The exciting new Boris Bus would be launched at Christmas with a fleet of eight prototypes being tested live on London's streets for six months, before further orders were placed.

Countdown information systems would be rolled out over six months, replacing all the current bus stop indicators and seeing an addition of 2,500 new signs at new locations.

Mr Hendy was unenthusiastic about the prospect of a 5% cut in fares at a difficult time. He declined to discuss the consequences for the bus network but would not be recommending the Mayor made such a cut, as promised by Labour candidate Ken Livingstone.

Cycling

The cycle hire scheme had experienced IT problems but the operators, SERCO, had pulled out the stops and improved performance. Bike hire and Cycle Superhighways had encouraged a growth in cycling with brand new riders taking to the saddle.

Barclays had taken something of a risk, investing two tranches of £25 million each in a scheme which had not been trialled elsewhere. Mr Hendy felt that the reward of being associated with the scheme was not disproportionate considering the balance of risks.

We briefly talked about walking. Jenny Jones urged Mr Hendy to give walking higher priority as it offered the least costly way of getting people off public transport and freeing up space for passengers.

Disabled Access

We talked about Dial a Ride, which had attracted complaints following the introduction of a new IT system. TfL were working to improve the service. I have received more complaints about ramps on buses failing to work recently. Mr Hendy reaffirmed his commitment to ensure all ramps were working before buses left the depot.

Borough Funding

The boroughs welcomed the relaxation of TfL rules on spending the money provided for Local Improvement Plans. However this is a contentious area. Jenny Jones fears that without TfL control the boroughs will ignore environmental priorities, whereas Croydon member Steve O'Connell stated that TfL should walk away entirely and leave the councils to be judged by their residents at the ballot box.

Admin Savings

Project Horizon, the TfL wide initiative to cut bureaucracy, was on course to save 20% from the budget. Mr Hendy felt this compared well with Hong Kong which was saving 15% and certainly with Paris where no savings were expected. KPMG had recently stated that TfL had adopted a culture of cost efficiency - a culture which it should always have had.

Redbridge Civic Service

2011-10-09T18:19:00.002+01:00

This afternoon saw the Redbridge civic service hosted at Christ Church in Wanstead. Mayor Cllr Chris Cummins welcomed Mayors from neighbouring boroughs including Havering, Barking and Dagenham, Waltham Forest and Hillingdon. The service was followed by tea and cakes at the nearby school.

Elm Park Primary School

2011-09-27T22:36:00.002+01:00

Today Boris came to Elm Park to open our new primary school. Constructed on the site of the old Ayloff Primary School, the new building assimilates both its predecessor and nearby Dunningford School where roles were - unusually for London - falling.

The new design is revolutionary, with two floors and plenty of open spaces for meetings and assemblies. Joint planning with the pupils led to toilets off individual classrooms, a bright and open school canteen, and plenty of technology, meaning that some children told the mayor that they no longer had to use handwriting - a development that Boris described as 'frightening'.

Consultation with pupils was even instrumental in the choice of purple for the school uniform.

Boris joined council leader Michael White and headteacher Mrs Knox, to address pupils and parents, from one of the wide steps that are used for assemblies. They went on to unveil a plaque and plant a tree at the school entrance.

Leaving the school, Boris visited the new Elm Park Library, where he admired the environmentally friendly green roof and spoke to local users. We then visited the town centre, taking the temperature of small businesses, before returning to town on the District Line.

The sun shone and this was a great opportunity to showcase the council's investment in Elm Park.

Open House on the River

2011-09-18T17:37:00.002+01:00

This afternoon the Institute of Civil Engineers hosted a boat trip to highlight engineering wonders of the Thames Gateway. The weather held off and we enjoyed intimate views of our waste disposal facilities, shipping and flood defences.

Flying The Flag

2011-09-17T22:03:00.003+01:00

Today I attended a ceremony to mark the award of a Green Flag to Ilford War Memorial Gardens. The award recognises community involvement, conservation and heritage , cleanliness and good maintenance. Only the best green spaces receive the award.

Mayor of Redbridge Chris Cummins, local councillors and MPs Lee Scott and Mike Gapes were present as the flag was raised over the gardens.

Open House Day also meant that the War Memorial Hall was open for public viewing. In the last decade the Friends of the War Memorial have overseen the restoration of this important monument and improvements to the gardens. The Green Flag award is a great tribute to their efforts.

Flags are in vogue right now. A Purple Flag - recognising high quality night life - is being sought for nearby Gants Hill.

First Questions

2011-09-15T17:46:00.003+01:00

Wednesday saw the first Mayor's Question Time of the new term. With the weeks now counting down to the 2012 Boris v Ken v Ex Deputy Assistant Commissioner Paddick rematch, there was plenty of political point making and the Mayor himself was not taking prisoners. Not surprisingly, the August riots attracted a lot of attention - and the public gallery was packed.

The Riot Act

Steve O'Connell led off by inviting the mayor to encourage police to act to prevent riots rather than just responding to the mayhem. Steve saw the consequences of the recent disorder in his own Croydon constituency and other members were keen to back him up. The mood is clearly in favour of tougher policing.

I made the point that long after most of us had worked out that these were criminal looters, the BBC were still referring to them as 'protestors' and trying to find a cause for what they saw as rebels. The Mayor replied diplomatically, that he hadn't seen much of the media coverage. I added that in future the police should treat vandalism, graffiti and intimidation of Londoners as criminal acts regardless of the causes espoused by those committing them. Making a point about tuition fees, cuts or climate change is no more valid an excuse than wanting a pair of trainers or a mobile phone.

Dee Doocey asked about the effects on London's economy. Boris replied that these were still being calculated. I stated that there needed to be a review of town centre planning to ensure the safety of the residents, with stronger defences, clear CCTV lines of sight and sprinklers in new buildings. With apartments over shops the stakes are not just economic - homes and lives are at risk too. I also asked for some clearer guidance about the force that could legally be used to defend property, a question that has been raised by small businesses in my constituency.

I asked for more public order training for police. In Ilford some of the officers who found themselves defending the High Road had not received riot training and in many places they did not have appropriate equipment. Boris replied that this was now a priority at the Met.

Most members pitched in on behalf of their constituents who felt real fear and uncertainty during the riots and in the uneasy days that followed. There wasn't much sympathy for the perpetrators. Green Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones remained silent for once - the current mood does not suit her previous stance which was critical of policing in earlier demonstrations.

TfL Grants to Boroughs

Brian Coleman was critical of the LIP process by which TfL provide funding to boroughs for highway schemes. He related an amusing tale of TfL asking his officers to write a longer report if they wanted the money - "twenty more pages of waffle" had allegedly been requested. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, the bureaucracy still needs to be trimmed.

Taxi Touts

I was pleased that Caroline Pidgeon raised the question of illegal mini cabs once again. This is an ongoing concern to many constituents who are law abiding licensed drivers and I often flag up these concerns with the Mayor.

Boris reported a 37% fall in sexual offences in illegal cabs which is very welcome news, but Caroline was concerned that CRB checks for drivers from other countries were of questionable value. She also mentioned that New York has many more enforcement officers than London's Public Carriage Office.

Since 2008 more than 600 licences have been revoked for illegal touting, but often the most prolific offenders return to the streets within a few days. I suggested that prosecutions should look for other matters - benefit fraud, driving without insurance, illegal immigration and unfit vehicles - which could be added to the charge sheet, ensuring longer detention and in some cases deportation for the worst cases.

Wave and Pay

2011-09-06T16:47:00.002+01:00

This morning the transport committee took evidence from TfL for our investigation into the exciting future of ticketing on public transport. First, though, we had to approve the chair's actions taken over the summer break.

Olympic Test Event

Following the cycle race that took place in South West London and Surrey a couple of weeks ago, the committee chair, Caroline Pidgeon, had written to TfL expressing the concerns of local residents. Having been caught up in traffic around Putney and Richmond, I shared her concerns, as did my colleague Dick Tracey, who represents Merton & Wandsworth.

First, we felt that the road closures had been left in place for too long after the event was over. More than an hour after the last cyclists had passed, Putney was still gridlocked, with key roads closed to traffic.

Second, the route marshalls were unhelpful to the public, often because they were not being informed of the latest situation. Many of them came from outside the area and had little local knowledge which meant that they could not give adequate directions to drivers seeking an escape from the chaos.

Clearly this test event highlighted some serious problems which need to be ironed out before 2012. Just as well it wasn't the real thing...

Tickets To Ride

TfL's fares experts, Shashi Verma and Will Judge were present to explain developments in the ticketing strategy. Both have appeared before committees in the past so they gave a polished and informative performance - sometimes clashing with representatives of consumer group 'Which' and the ITSO national ticketing organisation.

The key initiative was the introduction of 'Wave and Pay' more properly known as Contactless Payment Cards. With the Oystercard PFI contract due to expire in 2015, TfL had been examining future options.

Banks are increasingly issuing contactless payment cards. These require no pin number for purchases under £15 and can already be used to buy coffee and newspapers. Pret A Manger, McDonalds and Boots are signed up to the scheme and Tesco is planning to offer the service, but the introduction of wave and pay for public transport would encourage a step change in the use of the almost 20 million cards that will be in circulation by Christmas.

In effect using bank cards as Oyster cards would be much easier for the passenger, eliminating the need to apply for a card or to top it up. It would also save TfL money, for 14% of the cost of a ticket is spent issuing and monitoring it. Between 2 and 9 percent of the cost of a ticket is paid as commission where tickets are purchased from high street retailers.

The project was set to cost £75 million but will realise savings of between £15 and £20 million per year, so the business case is sound.

But What About Passengers?

Whilst many people now have contactless payment cards, the facility has not been widely publicised. 'Which' had surveyed passengers and found some resistance to this new payment method, with concerns expressed about the lack of control and the possibility of going overdrawn. Providing a statement of journeys made and costs incurred on a daily basis - and a facility to challenge them - would go some way to dealing with these worries.

The purchase limit of £15 per transaction - and £45 per day - would limit potential exposure, particularly if the card was stolen. It also meant that payment for longer journeys outside London would be impractical.

Far from complicating an already challenging fares structure, TfL believed that wave and pay would simplify fares and provide transparency. Shashi Verma pointed out the reduction of the number of ticket types from over 270 a few years ago to just 45 - still complex but nowhere near as byzantine as in the past.

Concessionary fares for old people, children etc, would remain but would not be included in the project - because no payment is required and the ticket is used as a proof of identity and entitlement in those cases.

And they assured us that all stations would be staffed even if there were changes to the ticket halls.

Phase 1 of the project, going live in March 2012, will see Wave and Pay go live for single bus journeys within London. It will then be progressively rolled out to cover other ticket types and modes of travel.

Work Programme

The transport committee work programme in the run up to the 2012 elections was agreed. In our coming meetings we plan to investigate Crossrail, major rail and tube projects, Olympics transport, river services and the effectiveness of London councils' local implementation plans.

An exciting year lies ahead!

Redbridge Response to the Riots

2011-08-12T10:07:00.004+01:00

Since Monday evening things have calmed down in Romford and elsewhere. On Tuesday our businesses still closed earlier and I watched the owner of the camera shop downstairs packing his merchandise into his car to take it all home for the night. There were half a dozen police patrolling the car park and no sign of the looters. At around 11pm I went downstairs to thank them for their efforts and to offer them a mug of coffee.

Wednesday was even quieter with no sign of trouble. Last night was pretty much business as usual with pubs and clubs open and a large police presence which is not unusual here on busy nights. So is this the calm after the storm or the eye of the hurricane? A briefing at Ilford Town Hall summarised the current position.

In Redbridge the disorder on Monday was more serious. Around 200 rioters ran amock in the High Road after 5pm. Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Sue Williams, deployed her entire officer contingent - already depleted by the transfer of officers to riots in Inner London - including detectives, to clear the crowd and the street was taken back with only a few shops attacked.

Some of the rioters struck again in Ilford Lane, attacking two jewellers and it took time for police to chase them away. Like Romford, it appears that criminals were avoiding conflict with the police, instead seeking to capitalise on the situation by stealing electronics, jewellery and fashion items.

As at Thursday evening we were told there had been 950 arrests and we know that this number passed 1,000 overnight. 44 arrests had been made in connection with the Redbridge incidents and 63% of these were local people. 57% were unemployed but some were also in good jobs, indicating that this had nothing to do with 'poverty'. 95% of those arrested were male but surprisingly only 3 people were under 16. With arrests continuing these figures are merely a snapshot of a changing position, but Sue declared that the police were going to track down these criminals and arrest every one of them.

And audience made up largely of charities, business groups and neighbourhood watch coordinators had many questions and concerns, but all were keen to work together to come through this crisis. There was considerable support for the police and refreshingly little enthusiasm for excusing the behaviour of looters.

Sue Williams reassured us that there were no plans to reduce police numbers in the borough, beyond the redeployment of some sergeants in the safer neighbourhood team review. Redbridge Council was funding 13 additional officers in an agreement which was set to run for several years.

Concerns were expressed that sentences would not reflect the gravity of the situation, particularly for young offenders who - with some justification - see the courts as powerless when it come to imposing meaningful punishments. In one case a man caught with two stolen T shirts had been fined just £100 then told he wouldn't have to pay it because he had spent a day in custody - you get more than that for parking illegally! I guess we shall just have to wait and see the sentences imposed by the Crown Courts.

There were worries about how 'reasonable force' is defined if you defend your own property. This has been a vexed question for a very long time and the riots will reopen the debate. Because people live in town centres this is about more than defending goods, it's about defending homes and livelihoods as well. The law needs clearing up to give unambiguous support to residents and business owners who choose to fight back, not least because it will always take the police time to respond to a call.

There were also some positive proposals. Parents should be leafleted to make them aware of the importance of keeping children under control. Redbridge youth service were texting young people to warn them to stay indoors and most were taking notice. There were also calls to ban hoodies in the town centre.

Many people were surprised by the high quality of the CCTV images from Monday night. TfL have been using high definition CCTV pictures to prosecute criminals on the bus network for some time and like TfL the police are now publishing pictures of suspects. It is worth everyone taking a look and the link is www.met.police.uk/disordersuspects . Anyone who identifies a suspect or has other useful information can call the police on 020 8345 4142 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

"This is Great, Bruv - You Can Just Take Anything You Want!"

2011-08-09T11:49:00.003+01:00

Those were the words of a hooded youngster who sauntered with his half dozen friends down the alleyway next to my flat in Romford town centre at around 2:30 this morning. He went on to encourage another boy to steal something for his girlfriend.

Living in town, you come to recognise when trouble is building up during the day. Yesterday afternoon the first sign that all was not well was the arrival of groups of boys on bikes, many very young, riding like posses of outlaws through the crowded streets, performing stunts and buzzing shoppers.

As five o'clock approached, businesses and venues pulled the shutters down and the streets started to clear. There would be no eating out, going to see a film or clubbing. The owner of the camera shop downstairs told me that the looters were coming to Romford and advised me to stay inside.

Shadows lengthened and little groups of youths began to appear. The alleyway was quickly identified as a good place to hide out and half a dozen people collected, muttering and looking lost - obviously not from the area. One had his mobile phone out and was texting away. They were a mixed group, four black and two white, for unlike the eighties this is not about race. And they were expensively dressed, for this is not about poverty either.

A police car drew up and four officers in stab vests approached the youths, taking their details and filming them with a hand held video camera. The youths slouched away but the police remained, patrolling the large car park and approaching groups as they gathered. At one point several would be rioters collected around the bottle bank - a possible source of missiles. Later on the window of a clothes shop was attacked but the masked looters fled as a police car arrived, its blue lights flashing.

In Romford that was the pattern for the night. The looters sought to avoid contact with the police, retreating into the dark and waiting for another chance. Targets were carefully chosen - JD Sports and Debenhams were attacked. This wasn't any sort of protest, it was opportunistic theft and vandalism, the sort of thing that we sometimes see when a power failure turns the street lights out.

We got off lightly, but in Ilford there was much more damage and looting around the town centre and of course other parts of London suffered greatly. Steve O'Connell who represents Croydon emailed me to say "my town centre is ablaze", a tragedy for the small businesses and residents who lost their homes. The emergency services, particularly fire crews showed great bravery and dedication to duty. Dick Tracey reported attacks in Clapham where police successfully deployed armoured vehicles to break up a crowd. Andrew Boff was out in Hackney, watching as gangs effectively took over the Pembury Estate for several hours.

And what can we expect tonight? Who knows, for London is in uncharted territory. With police reinforced to more than double last night's numbers, and with some 400 looters arrested and off the streets the trouble should be easier to contain but people are demanding a tougher response. I have had requests for water cannon and tear gas to be deployed and I urge police to consider such options.

Perhaps a curfew would help to clear the streets of the 'riot tourists' who have been in evidence in some places, allowing the police to focus on the criminals. With all the businesses and venues closed there is little to leave home for anyway.

We also need to see some swift justice handed down to those who have been arrested, preferably in the next couple of days. Theft and disorder are serious crimes and some exemplary prison sentences will deter copycat incidents. Conspiracy is also a serious charge which could lead to the social networkers doing a stretch.

For the longer term, if planners are to continue encouraging residential development in town centres - and I believe that they should - then they also need to plan for the security of those residents. Destruction of commercial property is sometimes seen as acceptable because the insurers will pay, but mixed developments mean that homes and lives are now at stake.

And is it too much to hope that we will see less acceptance and even glorification of dumbed down, insolent 'street culture'?? There are too many examples - including advertising material promoted by the very sportswear and entertainment industries that have been targeted - but perhaps the most pervasive is that awful London 2012 logo that was designed to look like graffiti. Our city has many things to boast about but street culture is not one of them.

I have asked for an emergency meeting of the Conservative Assembly Members at City Hall, so that we can share our experiences, get briefed by the emergency services and debate ways to deal with this crisis and to make our city safer in future.

Building The Tube

2011-07-25T13:34:00.004+01:00

This morning the Transport Committee met to take evidence from TfL. In the hot seats were board member Christopher Garnett, who chairs TfL's rail and underground panel and veteran engineer David James, brought in post PPP to run the new Independent Investment Programme Advisory Group or IIPAG for short.

IIPAG comprises eight experienced engineers and project managers from the rail industry. They are reviewing the projects carried out under PPP with the aim of saving over £1 billion and improving delivery. IIPAG reports, we were told, send tough messages about what needs to be done, messages that are respected because of the experience of the Group. We had to take their word on this as the IIPAG reviews are not public documents and we don't get to see them. The reports are considered by TfL's Finance Committee who are regarded as much tougher than previous boards - Christopher Garnett memorably described the boards that Ken Livingstone appointed as 'malleable'. Meanwhile, the results will be summarised in an annual report from IIPAG which will be a public document.

On the positive side, David James reported that PPP had created a comprehensive register of London Underground assets, documenting the state of each line - something which was not previously available. Current performance was also good, with the Northern Line unusually delivering its best results ever and the Piccadilly not far behind. Of course things aren't so good on the Jubilee and we would return to that later.

On the negative side, IIPAG had concluded that project management skills in TfL were not equal to delivering major upgrade work. Skilled people were available but TfL would have to recruit them and pay a competitive rate - including a bonus for successful completion of projects on time and within budget. IIPAG had recommended that TfL set up a central project management team with an overview of both railways and surface transport. Instead TfL planned to set up two teams, keeping these areas separate. This was a bone of contention with IIPAG claiming it would lead to extra costs and division across projects, when 80% of the work was being done in London Underground.

IIPAG was benchmarking the various lines against one another to identify best practice, but they did not see the value of benchmarking with other metros at this stage, because the London system is older and larger than most, with a greater number of deep level lines.

Victoria Line

A review of the work done on this project concluded that the work had gone well, particularly on the new signal system. The only problem had arisen because new train doors were over sensitive and the trains had not been sufficiently run in before they were introduced.

Jubilee Line

The Jubilee resignalling project had not gone well and there were lessons to be learned. IIPAG recommended that future line upgrades should be done in sections rather than across the whole line to reduce disruption. They also recommended testing of signalling and train IT off line before their introduction and earlier involvement of the drivers and signallers who would have to use the kit.

Surprisingly the specification for the Jubilee Line signalling had ruled out two directional working as an unnecessary refinement. This mistake would not be repeated.

Northern Line

An established signalling system would be used in the Northern Line upgrade, minimizing the risk of breakdown. This time the contract was between London Underground and the supplier, so LU's responsibilities were clear. The Northern Line project was due for completion before the complex sub surface line resignalling started.

Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan

Resignalling of the sub surface lines was the next big project. Composed of over 40 individual projects a high level of oversight was required. IIPAG had recommended the appointment of a leading industry figure, and they would be monitoring the progress of the project - including costs - carefully.

The new signalling system was the same as the one recently installed at Madrid with no weekend closures! Whilst closures could not be ruled out in London they would be kept to an absolute minimum, certainly fewer than experienced in other recent Tube upgrades.

Bakerloo, Central, Piccadilly

Upgrades on these lines were due to complete in 2017/18 but they had fallen back because of a shortage of funding. London Underground would be making the case to government for the funding of the last three PPP projects, thus completing a process that feels like it started a lifetime ago.

Stop The Press - It's Mayor's Questions

2011-07-14T08:03:00.002+01:00

Yesterday saw the last Mayor's Question Time before the recess. This is traditionally a fairly rowdy affair as members let their hair down in anticipation of a long break and Wednesday morning was no exception.

A prepared list of questions largely went by the board in favour of a feeding frenzy around the News International scandal and the mayor's involvement.

News of The Screws

Ken Livingstone was in the public gallery for the initial exchanges. He was wearing his dark suit which only ever sees the daylight when he wants to be seen as serious, so he was clearly expecting to face some questions himself. Actually he had just come from the launch of Labour's London Assembly candidates, a diverse group that includes Tracey Ullman's daughter - might come in useful to have someone who knows the words of 'Break Away'....

Len Duvall led the Labour group's charges against Boris. These centred around the fact that the mayor himself had experienced News of The World phone hacking but had declined to be a witness in the prosecution of those responsible back in 2006. More seriously he was chairing the police authority in 2009 when AC John Yates had decided - after a review lasting eight hours - not to reopen the case, and he had subsequently made some dismissive comments at Question Time.

On the first charge I have some sympathy with Boris. At the time he was an MP and had no responsibility for the police, and understandably he had no wish to see his personal life dragged through the courts with all the consequent publicity. The police had told him that his cooperation was not necessary and indeed they did secure convictions against Mulcaire and Goodman without his help. Both men received significant prison sentences.

On the second charge, Yates had assured Boris that there was no public interest in pursuing further prosecutions given the other priorities that Scotland Yard faced. To have issued conflicting orders might have looked like a personal vendetta, given that the mayor had himself been a victim.

Ken came in for some stick as well, and he sat grim faced in the third row whilst Conservative members revealed his list of meetings and social contacts with Murdoch, Brooks and co. They also highlighted the many payments he received from News International for writing their newspaper columns.

It's a microcosm of the debate which was going on up the river at Westminster. For the last two decades politicians, police and the press have enjoyed a cosy relationship, largely dictated by the enormous power wielded by the editors and proprietors. One day the music was going to stop, leaving everyone looking tainted.

Not that I blame the politicians for currying favour. Kinnock (1992), Major (1997), Hague (2001), Duncan Smith (2003) and Brown (2008) were all heavily damaged by hostile news reporting and there was a view that you could not win an election in the UK without Murdoch's support. I think that view was exaggerated, it was less 'The Sun What Won It' and more 'The Sun What Predicted It and Joined the Winning Side', but even so it was never an advantage to have them working against you.

For police chiefs and people running other public organisations a positive press was essential to maintaining public confidence. They don't have PR departments for the fun of it.

And for those of us further down the political chain, backbench MPs, Assembly Members, Councillors, well we just kept our heads down and hoped they wouldn't notice us. To complain publicly about the press was akin to standing up to complain about snipers in a war zone. Only the foolhardy would do it once, only the lucky would do it twice.

And at the very end of the meeting, I posed an uncomfortable question that can't have been only on my mind. Had members of the Assembly been hacked? With a list of 4,000 victims less than 200 of whom have been informed, I believe this is a real possibility. And have members of the Metropolitan Police Authority been hacked?

There's a lot of blame being passed around at the moment. I'm just pleased that the music has stopped and there is the prospect of a new start. The End of The World leaves a gaping hole which may widen if other titles follow it, and we need to be very vigilant about how that gap is filled. The cross party motion in Parliament yesterday was a good start and it would be nice to see the same spirit prevail at City Hall.

Mini Cabs

In the shadow of the Murdoch furore, members did manage to raise some other important matters. I have received complaints about unlicensed mini cabs recently so I asked Boris about his plans to drive these cowboys off our streets.

The enforcement unit had been doubled in size to 68 police officers and a recent operation in Marylebone had resulted in 39 arrests. In the year up to May 2011 the number of reported sex attacks in mini cabs had fallen by 20%. Nevertheless there was still a lot to do and the fact that 79% of those arrested already had criminal records highlights a problem with repeat offending.

For passengers seeking a licensed vehicle there is the Cabwise service - text CABWISE to 60835 - which provides the details of three reputable carriers near to the desired location.

I still get plenty of emails about taxi touts both in central London and on my own patch so TfL and the Met Police cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

Evidence to the IRP

2011-06-30T12:38:00.002+01:00

For much of June I have been laid low with a chest infection which has meant a visit to Queen's Hospital for a x-ray and a course of mega antibiotics. I have attended all the essential meetings, but non essential stuff has been postponed and campaigning has been on hold. I certainly haven't had the energy to blog about things.

However yesterday I gave evidence to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, the body which is reviewing plans to close services at King Georges Hospital. I found them sympathetic and genuinely open minded about the Health For North East London plans, and they asked some very thoughtful questions.

The panel have been asked to ensure the plans will provide a 'safe, sustainable and accessible' health service for residents. I concentrated on the sustainable and accessible elements, as I know that many other witnesses will focus on safety and the investigation into Queen's Hospital ordered yesterday by the Care Quality Commission will also obviously comment on safety.

I produced a short statement which is copied here:

STATEMENT TO THE IRP - 29 JUNE 2011

EVIDENCE OF CLLR ROGER EVANS AM

INTRODUCTION

I am the elected member of the London Assembly representing the constituency of Havering and Redbridge which covers both King George's Hospital and Queen's Hospital. I was elected in 2000 and I have lived in Romford town centre since 2002. Prior to that I lived in Leytonstone for fourteen years and used Whipps Cross Hospital on a number of occasions, so I am very familiar with the area affected by these proposals.

In 2006 I was elected to Havering Council, representing Elm Park Ward and I chaired the authority's Regulatory Services Committee, deciding on major planning applications from 2006 to 2009.

I am also a member of the board of the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, a body which seeks to bring economic development to the lower Lea Valley and the north bank of the Thames in Newham, Barking, Dagenham and Havering.

I would like to focus on the sustainability and accessibility of the Health For North East London proposals as I feel these are inadequate for an area which is growing and changing at a very fast rate.

SUSTAINABILITY

I have no personal criticism of the standards of care provided by Queen's Hospital, but it is all too obvious that this relatively new facility is already overloaded following the closure and amalgamation of Harold Wood and Oldchurch Hospitals, which it was intended to replace.

The Mayor's London Plan envisages the provision of more housing and a consequent growth in population in both Havering and Redbridge. The current draft plan for the period 2011-2021 sets targets of 7,600 new homes for Redbridge and 12,350 new homes for Havering. The total population of Havering and Redbridge is projected to grow by almost 35,000 over the next decade.

Recent approval on appeal of a large residential development at Dover's Corner in Rainham has also set a precedent for more such developments along the A13 corridor. There will also be considerable population growth in Barking and Dagenham with a major residential development at Barking Riverside creating 10,800 new homes.

Queen's is already the hospital with the highest number of deliveries in London and the maternity unit has experienced some highly publicised and tragic incidents, brought about by existing overstretch. Demand is projected to continue to grow with Health For North East London predicting a need for 12,000 deliveries in the area by 2016-17. Closing the maternity unit at King George's Hospital will place even more pressure on Queen's and it is difficult to see how they will cope with this. The greatest growth in demand is predicted for boroughs on the west and south sides of the area so it seems strange to propose concentrating maternity services in the north east.

Queen's accident and emergency unit is also overstretched with long waiting times. During Christmas and New Year 2010-11 ambulances were regularly diverted to King George's accident and emergency because Queen's was overloaded. An increase in population is going to result in increased demand in coming years. Havering also has a higher number of pensioners than any other London borough and older people are particularly in need of hospital services including accident and emergency.

The concentration of services at Queen's will leave the three large boroughs of Havering, Redbridge and Barking & Dagenham with only one accident and emergency unit to serve 750,000 residents, comparing unfavourably with Inner London boroughs which each have a unit serving some 250,000 residents.

I believe that the proposals fail to take account of projected population growth in and around my constituency and will stretch already overloaded services at Queen's to beyond breaking point.

ACCESSIBILITY

Although a new facility, Queen's Hospital suffers from inadequate parking for the patients and visitors that it already serves. There is little room on the site to provide extra parking so the assumption must be that public transport will be used by visitors and patients.

Yet only four bus services currently enter the hospital site with two of these, the 193 and 499, terminating there and the 175 and 365 providing a through service. The only bus route linking to Redbridge is the 128 to Claybury Broadway but this is a long and tortuous route and it doesn't enter the hospital site. I regularly receive requests from constituents who would like to see existing bus services extended or rerouted to the hospital, or even the provision of new services.

However space at Queen's to accept new services is limited. Furthermore the current budgetary challenges faced by Transport for London rule out expansion of the bus network in the short and medium term. If anything, the current focus is on protecting the routes now in place.

For ambulances or private vehicles taking patients to Queen's from Redbridge the connections between the boroughs are not good. The only trunk road is the A12 which suffers from congestion at peak commuting times and throughout the day. Recent roadworks at Redbridge Roundabout, Gants Hill Roundabout and Gallows Corner have all caused very considerable delays and although Gants Hill is now much improved, these major junctions present bottlenecks with the potential to cause further delays when engineering works are required.

In my opinion the Health For North East London proposals will make it harder for patients and their visitors in Redbridge to access the maternity and accident and emergency services that they need. They should be reconsidered.

ROGER EVANS
29 June 2011

Bus Petition

2011-06-12T09:56:00.002+01:00

On Wednesday morning I presented a petition to the London Assembly calling for better bus services in Havering and Barking & Dagenham. The wording of the petition, signed by 518 constituents is:

We the undersigned request consideration to be given to a new bus route from the Civic Centre in Dagenham to Hornchurch Town Centre and return to Dagenham via Tesco at Roneo Corner.

The lead petitioner was Brooklands Councillor Fred Osborne who attended to hand over the petition to me. He was accompanied by his wife Maria and local residents Margaret Gregory, Maureen Carter and Harry Gosling.

Deputy Mayors' Questions

2011-06-12T08:47:00.002+01:00

There were two deputy mayors facing questions from the Assembly on Wednesday, with some useful exchanges before the meeting later descended into acrimony...

Policing

First up was Kit Malthouse, accompanied by Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin. They began by confirming that the Met currently employs 32,222 police officers with another 5,000 specials in post. The Assembly recently produced a quite thoughtful report on police numbers, which sought to find better ways of measuring police effectiveness than just counting the establishment.

With £90 million savings required this year and the full details of the central government grant still not available, greater innovation and productivity were needed. The use of a video link to enable officers to give evidence in court from their base at Croydon police station was saving valuable time and reducing the need to travel. Of every 12 officers called to court only 3 actually take the stand, which seems like a shocking waste of time and money. Video links will reduce this cost and they are being rolled out across the Met.

Officers were also lobbying to be allowed to keep more money seized from criminals. The Proceeds of Crime Act allows for confiscation of ill gotten gains but the police only get to keep a sixth of the sum raised with the balance going to government. The practical effect is that the Met actually make a loss on POCA.

I asked about measures to control violence in Romford, particularly in the wake of the shooting outside Liquid & Envy last month. Tim Godwin talked about Operation Target which is focusing on known trouble makers and trouble spots. Stronger licensing powers for local authorities will allow for stricter control of entertainment premises including the levying of a charge to help with policing - welcome developments for night life hot spots like Romford, Kingston and Soho. Little did we know that Operation Target was springing into action at that very moment, with an alleged criminal waking up to find Boris and a horde of police in his bedroom...

Planning

Next came Edward Lister, who has replaced Sir Simon Milton as chief of staff and deputy mayor for planning. Edward has led Wandsworth Council for 19 years, holding down the council tax whilst delivering a four star rated service - even according to the last Labour government. With this in mind it was perhaps a mistake for the other parties to seek to find fault with his record. It all seemed to boil down to criticism of a lack of cheap housing and charging for use of the adventure playground in Battersea Park. Despite these criticisms Wandsworth was achieving a public satisfaction score of over 80%, which many London authorities would give their right arm for.

In his planning role, Eddie stated that he would be reintroducing stronger protection for London's strategic views, with tighter rules for tall buildings. He would also seek to reduce back garden development - which accounts for a stunning 25% of development in the city.

I asked him if he would be freezing the council tax precept again next year, thus completing the mayor's four year term without raising the budget. He seemed quite positive and given his history at Wandsworth I wouldn't rule out a very timely council tax CUT in 2012!

Notwithstanding the good results achieved at Wandsworth some Labour members think that Eddie poses a threat to the city. The most notable of these is Ken himself - currently on his outer London tour, delivering inner London messages. Turning up at Bromley he recently condemned Eddie as 'the Ratko Mladic of local government' - a tasteless remark in the week when the real Mladic was indicted for war crimes at The Hague. Having visited the scene of this hideous mass murder at Srebrenica, and blogged about it in 2009, I can only say that such a comparison is bizzarre and offensive, particularly to the many who lost loved ones. The grief was still palpable when I visited some 15 years after the event.

So we asked the Assembly to dissociate itself from Ken's remarks, not a difficult thing to do, surely. The Lib Dems agreed with us, Labour made some poor excuses and voted against and the two Greens split with Jenny Jones supporting Labour.

Bus Petition

With the discord still ringing in our ears, we moved on to petitions. I presented a petition of 518 signatures calling for a bus service to run from Dagenham Civic Centre to Hornchurch via the large Tesco at Roneo Corner. Lead petitioner Cllr Fred Osborne and several constituents had waited patiently through the meeting for this moment. Three other petitions were presented by members from the other parties

Walk Out

With all the main business dealt with and a fewer that 13 of the other party members left in the chamber the Conservative Group staged a walk out in protest at our marginalisation at the hands of the other groups. This is an ongoing bone of contention that dates from the first meeting of the Assembly in 2008 when Labour, Lib Dem and Green members used their ultra slim one vote majority to deprive the larger Conservative Group of any major committee chairs.

When they did their little deal perhaps they failed to realise that they needed all 13 of their members present to maintain a working quorum at Assembly meetings. Of course they are always all there at the annual meeting when the jobs are handed out but at other meetings they are often short handed and therefore rely on us - the people they refuse to include - to prop up their business. Usually we comply but sometimes we don't, and this was one of those occasions.

Last year when I was Group Leader I made a speech to the Assembly about this - it is available on Youtube - in which I told the other groups that having taken so much upon themselves they should have the decency to actually turn up. I also offered to reopen the debate about the allocation of roles but this offer was thrown back in my face.

I understand that my successor James Cleverly has been rebuffed in a similar fashion so I would not be surprised if the group now starts to get a bit more combative. The style of the new leadership is clearly more robust than my own was...

As to the motions we didn't debate as a result, no doubt they will reappear on the next agenda and perhaps we can expect a full showing from the Labour, Lib Dem and Green members as well.

Havering Museum

2011-06-05T17:25:00.002+01:00

On Wednesday it was the first birthday of the fledgling Havering Museum. This is conveniently located just downstairs from my apartment in the Romford Brewery redevelopment and I was delighted to be invited along.

With an award of nearly £1 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund local volunteers have converted rooms on the ground floor of the old Ind-Coope brewery to house a collection of artifacts which tell the story of our borough. The Friends of Havering Museum were formed in 2000 and campaigned for nine years to get the funding they required. The collection includes Roman pottery, prehistoric tools, 19th century weights and measures and World War II mementos. There are also many interesting photographs charting the borough's growth to the present day.

In a textbook demonstration of Big Society activity, volunteers dressed up in historic costumes for the evening and read poems to celebrate. There was a buffet and a raffle and I became closely acquainted with the stocks...

Many happy returns to the Friends of Havering Museum! It is well worth a visit and details including opening times can be found at http://www.haveringmuseum.org.uk/ .

Monkhams Dinner

2011-06-05T08:55:00.002+01:00

Last night I was the guest speaker at the annual garden party and dinner hosted by Conservatives in Monkhams and Church End wards. Local activists Rashid and Lillette gave up their garden, roofing in the whole lawn under a large marquee, and provided a very substantial high quality meal. Naturally there was a raffle and an auction, all to raise funds for the local party.

I joined local councillor Michael Stark, former mayor of Redbridge, Cllr Jim O'Shea and current mayor Cllr Chris Cummins and tied up the evening with a few remarks, thanking activists for their hard work in the No to AV campaign - Redbridge scored 65% against - and in advance for their work on the coming 2012 London election. The team are keen to get started and nobody wants to see Ken Livingstone returned to City Hall.

The Beautiful South West

2011-06-04T06:59:00.003+01:00

On Bank Holiday Monday I completed stage six of the Capital Ring. Almost eight miles in length, this section runs from Wimbledon Park to Richmond, passing through some of the most attractive and exclusive districts of Greater London.

Turning right out of the District Line station and right again, the route descends a flight of steps into Wimbledon Park. Despite the threatening showers the tennis courts were full of locals taking the opportunity afforded by the extra day off. The walk runs along the shore of the lake, with views across the water to the famous All England Tennis Club. After a short detour around the park's athletics stadium, the walk leaves the park and starts to climb once again.

This is the long pull up and out of the Wandle Valley, passing many fine houses with even the social housing and terraces looking very opulent. A look back over the valley affords a final view of the masts at Crystal Palace which dominated stages three and four. Across the busy A219, the route plunges into the dense woodlands of Wimbledon Common.

A straight path through the woods leads to the Wimbledon Windmill, a popular attraction on a sunny bank holiday. The windmill was built in1817 and is a unique example of the 'hollow post' design, with the whole mill able to rotate on a central post to face into the wind. The path encroaches upon the fairways of the London Scottish Golf Club and - keeping an eye out for flying balls - runs down a steep hill to Queen's Mere, said to be a favourite haunt of the Wombles.

There was no sign of Orinocho or Great Uncle Bulgaria, but I paused at this lovely spot to take some pictures of the lake. A family of swans including no fewer than nine cygnets approached and I grabbed a few shots. They were obviously camera shy and one of the parents honked and approached in a threatening fashion, so I packed up and left them to it.

The walk continues through the golf course and across open fields to the A3 which intrudes noisily on the scene. Here the only way to cross used to be the iron footbridge but TfL have recently installed a pelican crossing with a novel difference - there is also a crossing for horses, with the buttons placed at a convenient height for riders to reach them.

Across the road is Robin Hood's Gate, the entrance to Richmond Park. This is the largest of the Royal Parks and very soon you feel as if you are out in the country, with no sign of civilisation apart from the jumbo jets blasting overhead on their way to Heathrow.

The path climbs easily to the excitingly named Spankers Hill Wood, with herds of deer much in evidence. The park has a herd of around 650 and although they look placid, signs warn that they can be aggressive if approached. An embankment leads between the two charming Pen Ponds and the walk passes around Sidmouth Wood crossing a busy road with excellent views over the Thames to the airport and the Twickenham rugby stadium.

On the road I had a close encounter with a lycra clad cyclist who bore down on me soundlessly, cutting past only inches away and shouting something. At the speed he was going I couldn't hear what he was trying to say but I assumed it was a cheery greeting of some sort...

A short detour leads to King Henry VIII Mound from which there is a protected view through a hole in the vegetation and down and avenue of trees which frame the dome of St Paul's in the hazy distance. Popular history has it that the King stood here to observe the signal confirming that Anne Boleyn had been executed in the Tower. Anne was only his second wife and as anyone who has seen 'The Tudors' TV series will know, things did not get better for Henry or his subsequent partners.

A steep hill descends to lovely Petersham, nestling by the River Thames. The path follows the river downstream, amongst joggers and cyclists. Listening to the conversations, there seem to be a large number of bankers and city professionals in Richmond. There are also a large number of Liberal Democrats although the Conservatives captured the council last year.

I had a brief lunch sitting on the stern of a boat that houses the Thames Visitors Centre - chicken skewers and a vanilla milkshake, which were very welcome at the end of a long and hilly walk. The return to Richmond Station was another half mile or so and frustratingly the District Line was out of action for engineering works. A long and complex journey home awaited.

The next stage of the ring crosses the Thames, leaving South London behind, and introduces the charms of Ealing and Brentford - the county town of Middlesex as local Assembly Member Tony Arbour has told us. I can't wait...

Capital Ring Day Six - Photographs

2011-05-30T20:30:00.003+01:00

A gruelling seven and a half miles around some of the most beautiful parts of South West London today. The pictures feature tennis at Wimbledon Park, Wimbledon Windmill, deer in Richmond Park and Richmond Bridge from the stern of the visitor's centre / restaurant. A more detailed account will follow when I have tended to my blisters.

Seven Kings

2011-05-27T22:28:00.002+01:00

Tonight we were handing out the Boris Oystercard wallets at Seven Kings Station. This time the team - including John Moss who will fight John Biggs in City & East London - wore Boris Boot Camp tee shirts, and people snapped up our offerings even faster than at Romford. A good sign in an area that returns Labour councillors and a Labour MP.

Tickets To Ride

2011-05-26T18:21:00.003+01:00

This evening we were out at Romford Station, distributing Boris Oystercard holders. With the help of local councillors Lynden Thorpe, Linda Trew, Fred Osborne and Sandra Binion they went really fast - everybody wanted one!

The New Mayor

2011-05-26T09:29:00.004+01:00

Last night it was Havering's turn to elect its first citizen for 2011/12. Outgoing mayor Cllr Pam Light will be a really tough act to follow, having got no fewer than 694 civic engagements under her belt during the year.

Her deputy, Cllr Melvin Wallace will take over with the benefit of a thorough grounding in the work - he has been deputy mayor for two years. Melvin worked in the city as a stockbroker for over forty years before his retirement and at the council he has been a well informed chairman of the pensions committee, helping to safeguard the financial future for our hard working employees. His wife Joan will make an excellent mayoress.

Melvin's deputy will be one of my closest friends, Cllr Lynden Thorpe. Lynden was elected to represent Squirrel's Heath ward at a by election several years ago. Her grandfather was the mayor and leader of Romford Council for 25 years (!) and his name is on the chain of office that her husband David will be wearing.

The mayor's charity for the coming year will be Havering's own St Francis Hospice and their work is explained at http://www.sfh.org.uk/ .

Questions to The Mayor

2011-05-22T18:10:00.002+01:00

Last week saw the first Question Time for two months. We usually give the mayor - of whatever party - a break in April to allow elections to take place untainted by political rhetoric, at least from City Hall.

Labour have decided - or perhaps been directed by HQ - to build their questions around a 'theme' on these occasions and on Wednesday the special theme was 'Outer London'. Those of us who represent the suburbs watched Labour's Novelty Visit with some amusement as they sought to criticise Boris on transport around outer London, policing in outer London, and the effect of benefit changes on outer London, without providing much in the way of evidence to support their efforts. For us, there were many opportunities to talk about specific projects which the mayor has helped us with.

In Redbridge we have seen the introduction of traffic lights and surface level crossings on the Gants Hill Roundabout, with far less disruption to traffic flow than I had thought possible - proof that TfL can make improvements without attacking drivers when they put their mind to it. We have also seen the opening of a rape crisis centre for East London, based at the Loxford Polyclinic, fulfilling one of Boris's early election promises.

In Havering we have enjoyed solid cooperation with the Met Police on initiatives such as the Yellow Card scheme and 'Barred from One, Barred from All', both of which serve to reduce drunken violence in Romford Town Centre. And at Gallows Corner we have opened the first new fire station built in London for over twenty years.

Later this year Redbridge will see the completion of another election promise when the Number 25 Bendy Bus snakes its way into the history books, to be replaced by a more conventional service that doesn't block the traffic, catch fire or enable industrial scale fare evasion.

But we want more. I took the opportunity to ask Boris to hold another of his 'Trees For London' votes. The last of these encouraged even more public participation than the AV referendum and was won by the country park at Fairlop Waters, which duly received its prize of new trees as well as a bonus - artificial boulders which both improved the park and helped to preserve the dwindling stock of real boulders in their natural habitat.

Cycle Super Highway 2

I had a crack at Newham Council for their policy of denying cycling opportunities to my constituents. Cycle Superhighway 2 was supposed to reach out of the City, through Tower Hamlets and Newham to terminate in Ilford. I have a keen cycling fraternity in Redbridge and they were looking forward to this new route speeding their way into town. Unfortunately the party poopers at Newham have refused passage through Stratford town centre, thus cutting off CS2 prematurely, with no benefit to Redbridge.

Boris assured me that he had met Newham's executive mayor, Sir Robin Wales to discuss this matter - amongst other things I suspect - and that the connection to Redbridge would soon be established.

My colleague Brian Coleman was none to impressed with me interfering in the affairs of a sovereign borough in this way and he raised an objection. However on occasions the actions of other boroughs echo beyond their borders - Newham has form on this - and in those cases I make no apology for speaking out.

Tube Strikes

I also asked Boris what he thought about Bob Crow's somewhat provocative remarks at the Transport Committee. The mayor refused to be drawn and perhaps this indicates that some sort of dialogue is taking place. I'm sure that Londoners will welcome steps to prevent the recent industrial strife but I am pessimistic - history will repeat itself until the balance of power is changed by government legislation to require greater participation in the unions' strike ballots.

Jenny Jones also decided to clarify her position, stating that her suggestion that Tube staff go on strike by refusing to collect fares and leaving the ticket barriers open had in fact just been a 'question' to Mr Crow, with no intention of putting ideas into his head. Mayoral candidates - even Green ones - do have to be careful about the causes they espouse....

By this time the Labour Group Leader had left John Biggs to wind up the team's Outer London Novelty Tour. As they embarked on their metaphorical mini bus back to their Inner London strongholds, I wondered who was snuggling on the back seat and what songs they were singing. It was nice to see you, do come back soon guys - and next time bring your map and compass....

Back On The Rails

2011-05-17T22:38:00.003+01:00

I attended my first transport committee since the reshuffle this morning. The committee has set itself the considerable task of investigating service failures on London Underground. TfL place the blame on the discredited PPP initiative - but is this excuse wearing a bit thin? Joining us were the former PPP arbiter, Chris Bolt, John Dickie from London First and Bob Crow from the RMT. Crow was accompanied by Steve Connolly from Aslef, a more softly spoken and thoughtful union official.

Strikes

Industrial action has risen since Boris became mayor, but the union reps claimed that there was no political motivation for this. They felt that their members were responding to threats and with a contracting budget after years of relative plenty this was understandable. Steve Connolly made an interesting intervention, claiming that LU's performance targets must be weak if they could be disrupted by 'just five strikes', a comment that begs the question, how many strikes is it reasonable to expect? I suppose it depends on the organisation but the higher rate within the public sector reflects a preoccupation with provider interests rather than customer needs.

A discussion of the threat to the Olympics led Bob Crow to insist that London Underground's offer to staff should be at least as generous as Network Rail's £500 payment per individual. In response to John Dickie's claim that strikes cost the capital's businesses £50 million per day, Bob responded that this demonstrated how much his members were worth and that their pay should increase to reflect that sum.

Bob was in no mood to take prisoners and challenged a proposal to require a 50% participation threshold for strike ballots, as being an attack on democracy. He pointed out that Conservative AM Dick Tracey had received less than 50% support from his constituents at the election - an argument that he has used before. Of course that is like comparing oranges to apples as one is a vote to elect an individual and the other is a vote to approve an action. Perhaps a more valid comparison would be with the AV referendum, where many of us felt that a participation threshold should have applied.

A suggestion that more stringent New York style legislation be brought in - banning strikes altogether - provoked a response that America also has the death penalty but we don't talk about introducing it. With logic stretched to such incredible lengths, we decided to move on - but not before Green AM Jenny Jones had suggested to Bob that his members come to work but refuse to collect fares or close ticket barriers...

Block Closures

The whole renewal process is taking much longer than originally planned. The Jubilee signalling work was intended to be complete by the end of 2009 but would now take until 2012 - hopefully. The Northern Line work had slipped from 2011 to 2014. Obviously everyone was quick to blame the PPP contractors, but John Dickie pointed out that these same companies successfully deliver projects on time and budget all over the world. There was much talk of Madrid as a tube system we could learn from.

With night time and weekend work proving inadequate it was now time to consider block closures of whole sections of line whilst the work was carried out. Bob Crow stated that really the whole lot - trains, signalling, tracks, drainage - should be renewed at the same time. This would ensure better compatibility between the elements of the system but would take longer and cost much more. Block closures would be relatively painless in Zone 1 where there were plenty of public transport alternatives. Not so good in outer London where other radial lines could become overcrowded as commuters sought alternative routes.

Chris Bolt mentioned that London Underground had always claimed that the PPP companies needed less time to do the work. He suggested that LU now had a chance to prove their case, having taken the projects over. The committee will return to this rather telling point when we take evidence from London Underground on 14th June at our next meeting.

New Mayor of Redbridge

2011-05-14T07:20:00.003+01:00

On Thursday night Redbridge held their annual meeting to elect a new mayor for the borough. Outgoing mayor Jim O'Shea and his deputy Ruth Clark have done a great job as ambassadors for the borough and leading citizens. Jim's charity appeal raised a massive £50,000 for Alzheimer's Care in Redbridge and the Dream Factory. They will be a tough act to follow.

The new Mayor is Snaresbrook councillor Chris Cummins. I have known Chris for well over ten years, we both started as activists in the less than promising environment of Leyton and Wanstead. He is a committed hard worker and this recognition is well deserved. Deputy Mayor will be Cllr Felicity Banks from Roding Ward - a Liberal Democrat, in true coalition fashion. We all wish them well for the coming year.

Volunteers at City Hall

2011-05-10T21:47:00.002+01:00

This evening the mayor hosted a reception at City Hall to thank volunteers from Havering and Redbridge. Around 200 guests from a wide range of local organisations were able to network together and admire the amazing view of our fantastic city as the sun set over St Paul's. Boris spoke at length, expressing his gratitude for their efforts then we were treated to an impromptu performance from local opera star Katie Milton, who works at the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch. A lot of people give their time and effort for free in our capital and it was great to join them to celebrate their contribution.

Volunteering Seminar

2011-05-08T08:11:00.003+01:00

Yesterday morning I spoke at a volunteering seminar organised by the Relief Society sisters at Romford Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was joined by contributors from other Essex based organisations including the Thurrock Women's Refuge and St Luke's Hospice.

The aim of the event was to talk about various options for volunteering and I spoke about local politics, becoming a councillor, magistrate or school governor. I reassured the audience that to become a councillor you didn't need to have a political background or know the right people.

Selectors sometimes think that someone who vocalises strong opinions over a pint or two would make a good councillor, but often such people fall silent when they have to defend their views in the cold light of day. The ability to work as part of a team and to appreciate others' points of view is much more important. As is the intelligence to grasp complex issues and explain them to others - a politician who says "They don't understand" really means "I can't explain". A grounding in the community is also essential as that is what distinguishes elected members from their officers and advisers. Finally a willingness to work outside normal hours, sacrificing evenings and weekends is essential.

All the speakers agreed that volunteering provided a good way to learn valuable new skills as well as putting something back into society. They also agreed that a volunteer should select their activity carefully, looking for something they enjoy and are committed to.

Havering & Redbridge Say NO!

2011-05-07T15:25:00.001+01:00

A resounding defeat for AV in this part of town:

Havering - Yes 22.7%, No 77.3%

Redbridge - Yes 32.5%, No 67.5%

No need for a recount...

Safer Nights Out

2011-05-05T19:07:00.003+01:00

Despite living in Romford, it is some time since I enjoyed a night out in the town. Cramming into crowded venues and knocking back gallons of cheap booze is not my idea of a good time. With standing room only it's a bit like spending the evening down a very noisy hole when you are my height and I discovered several years ago that it now takes me two days to recover from a hangover - time I don't have to waste. However one worry that I no longer have is the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime.

Violence is still a possibility of course, but a noticeable police presence, CCTV saturation and cooperation between venue operators and door staff has meant the town centre is now much safer at night.

Today Boris met borough police commander Mick Smith and council leader Michael White to see three new initiatives which will cut crime and anti social behaviour in the evenings.

The Yellow Ticket scheme allows officers to take individuals to task for their behaviour. Words of warning or advice are the first step in a process that leads to the most troublesome individuals being banned from the whole town centre.

The Barred From One, Barred From All initiative encourages venues to share details when they exclude a customer for misbehaviour. Being barred from one venue has resulted in a number of people being barred from all sixteen pubs and clubs in the town centre.

And a focus on false IDs means that under age drinkers who fake their identity will be excluded, not just at the time they are caught, but for several years as a punishment. Use of fake passports and driving licences is a crime of course and police have arrested and prosecuted some offenders.

Living in central Romford has many advantages, but it can be noisy in the evenings and alcohol causes a lot of unpleasant behaviour. A few years ago I was walking home one night - working late again - and a young, scantily clad girl jumped on me outside the station, giving me a huge kiss. I was shocked and horrified of course, particularly when she shouted "Why are you out on a Friday night? You're too old for Romford!!!!".

A case of mistaken identity I suppose, and I still won't be going out on the town. But I will feel that bit safer from molestation walking home in the evening.

Mayor About Town

2011-05-05T13:34:00.004+01:00

This morning Boris visited Romford. He met police officers conducting a cycle marking scheme and saw some new policing initiatives in action. The Mayor then visited the new Havering Museum, spoke to black cab drivers and toured the Liberty shopping centre where council leader Michael White presented him with Havering's historic coat of arms to take back to his office. As always, Boris was made very welcome by shoppers and residents.

Assembly AGM

2011-05-04T19:54:00.002+01:00

Fresh back from two bank holiday weekends, the London Assembly held their annual general meeting this morning. The main business was to allocate committee memberships and chairs for the final year of this term - unsurprisingly every member turned up.

Chairing the Assembly

I had agreed to be my group's candidate for chairman, although my hopes were not high. The other parties did a deal to shut us out of the most significant role three years ago and despite a combined majority of only one vote, they have stuck to this arrangement. In the event I was defeated by Labour's Jennette Arnold who won by 13 votes to 12. The Conservative group leaders said some nice things about me for which I am grateful and Jennette revealed that I was the first Conservative member she met when she joined the Assembly in 2000, replacing list member David Lammy - I must have made a memorable impression.

Jennette demonstrated a steely resolve in chairing a meeting which drifted from humour to ill temper and back again. I wish her well for the pre election year which I predict will see some heated exchanges.

Lib Dem Dee Doocey - now a Baroness and well deserved - defeated Conservative Victoria Borwick by 13 to 12 to become the deputy chair. Dee is effective but she has been stretched by her commitments as a working peer and I hope she is not biting off more than she can chew, particularly as she was also made chair of the Economy, Culture and Sport Committee.

Some Victories

I was reappointed chairman of the small Audit Committee, unopposed, for the third year running. I have set out to broaden the remit of the small panel, moving beyond just talking to auditors and accountants, and inviting the City Hall managers to give evidence when we consider audits of their departments. I believe that the audit process gains more credibility when a public hearing is involved.

And Victoria Borwick becomes the new chairman of the Health and Public Services Committee, succeeding James Cleverly who has done some good cross party work and raised the profile of the committee since 2008.

The Stitch Up

Of course these were minor concessions in a process that once again stitched up the chairs of all the major committees:

Budget & Performance - John Biggs (lab)

Business Management & Administration - Jennette Arnold (lab)

Economy, Culture & Sport - Baroness Dee Doocey (lib dem)

Environment - Murad Qureshi (lab)

Planning & Housing - Jenny Jones (green)

Transport - Caroline Pidgeon (lib dem)

And there is a timely lesson here for the advocates of proportional voting systems. The Assembly has existed for eleven years, and on every occasion the Lib Dems have sold their support to one of the larger groups in return for a disproportionate reward. At their high point they had only one fifth of the membership (5 seats), yet they have chaired the Assembly for 5 years, the budget committee for 6 years, the economic development committee for 6 years and the transport committee for 6 years.

In a hung authority the third party almost always wields disproportionate power and where an authority is routinely hung as a consequence of the electoral system, then that abuse of power becomes routine. We can't have this in our national government, so I am voting NO in tomorrow's referendum - and I urge everyone to do the same...

All For Charity

2011-05-01T08:39:00.002+01:00

Last night I took a break from the gruelling AV campaign to join the Mayor of Redbridge, Cllr Jim O'Shea at his charity ball, hosted by the Prince Regent Hotel.

A well attended dinner was followed by a raffle and an auction to raise money for Redbridge Alzheimer's Society and The Dream Factory. The event was kindly sponsored by Barclays, Waitrose, Skanska, Hills of Woodford and Broadway Music & Vision. There were no speeches but I was asked to propose the Royal Toast - a real privilege after yesterday's wedding!

We were also joined by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets (pictured), actress Vicki Michelle from 'Allo 'Allo and boxing champion Colin Macmillan. Great to have local celebrities offering their support.

Barkingside Says NO

2011-04-30T15:27:00.002+01:00

On the final weekend before the AV poll, we took our 'No' stall to Barkingside. In the hot sun we were joined by MP Lee Scott, prospective Assembly list candidate Nadia Sharif, and Cllr Keith Prince accompanied by members of his Redbridge group. Things were a lot slower than last week in Harold Hill, with people still getting over the Royal Wedding celebrations. Let's hope they are back in action for the big vote on Thursday!

Alternative Energy Debate

2011-04-28T08:34:00.003+01:00

Yesterday afternoon I joined students at Oaks Park High School in Redbridge for a video conference debate with some of their counterparts from the United States. Over in New York State it was the morning session at Scotia Glenvile High school and everyone looked a lot fresher than I felt in the summer heat.

Oaks Park have used their video conferencing facility to link up with locations around the globe including China and Antarctica. They have used simulations to relive the evacuation of Montserrat during the volcanic eruption a few years ago. It is a fantastic tool for broadening experience and we could have done with it when I was growing up in the North East and anywhere over 50 miles away was regarded as a foreign land.

The Politicians

I was invited to give my views and to talk about the Mayor's energy strategy. Whilst I think there is a future for solar and wind power, I don't believe that it is sufficiently productive to cater for our power needs. Biomass is a more interesting option, particularly as it includes energy from waste and cleaner alternatives to straight incineration are being developed and trialled in London. But I felt that nuclear power was the only current option that provides enough energy to replace fossil fuels.

We shouldn't leave a damaged environment to our children but neither should we leave them an inadequate energy infrastructure. I grew up in the seventies during the miners strikes and I remember what it was like to be deprived of heat and light - you couldn't even get all the way through an episode of Thunderbirds without the comrades pulling the plug. My political education started early in life...

From the States Congressman Paul Tonko joined us for his contribution. As a member of the congressional budget committee he's a big fish and we were lucky to get him. He's also got considerable scientific experience in this field and he is chairing a congressional committee which plans to make recommendations about the design of wind farms and solar energy plants in future. He is a big fan of President Obama who seemed a popular figure with the students despite the bad press he gets over here on occasions.

The Alternatives

Students then took turns to present their research, looking at the up and down sides of nuclear, solar, wind and biomass generation.

With a much larger land mass and some very hot areas, the States clearly has more room for wind and solar generation, although they also have a greater demand for energy. They were very keen to move away from fossil fuels, not so much because of environmental concerns but because they were imported from countries that were not seen as America's friends. There was also a surprising degree of opposition to nuclear power amongst the New York students. There was much talk about changing behaviour to cut down on energy use - I wish Congressman Tonko the best of luck with that project...

The Redbridge students actually had a greater enthusiasm for nuclear and biomass generation and they recognised that our climate makes solar energy a non starter, at least until the technology becomes more efficient. There was much interest in wind power and a desire for neighbouring countries in Europe to pool their resources in the quest for clean energy.

There was also no clear winner from this debate. The sensible conclusion was that each option had a part to play and that the best idea was to use electricity generated by all these methods as necessary, with a greater emphasis on renewables as research made them more effective.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this well informed and thoughtful debate and I hope that I will have the chance to participate again in future.

As I left I picked up an email from our new Group Leader - he's putting me back on the Transport Committee. Excellent news because I have missed being involved and now I will be able to write even more pieces about trains and buses for the blog...

Harold Hill Says NO

2011-04-23T17:37:00.002+01:00

This morning I joined colleagues in the sun, manning our 'No To AV' stall in Harold Hill. We set up at the Hilldene shopping centre, an area that is reasonably busy with locals on a Saturday morning. In addition to the usual leaflets we had flags for St Georges Day and helium balloons which proved very popular.

Chris Philp who is coordinating the London campaign, joined us and we also had Angela Watkinson MP and local councillor Keith Wells in support. This is traditionally a Labour area but Keith is very popular, having ousted his opponent in 2006 and remarkably retained his seat against the trend last year.

We experienced a very positive response. All morning I only met one person in favour of AV, and I also met someone who refused to take part because the country is run by 'Freemasons and Israelis', a state of affairs that he felt would remain the same regardless of the voting system.

The people here are sceptical of politicians, and with good reason. Traditional Labour supporters, they were abandoned by Tony Blair and feel betrayed, particularly over employment and immigration. They have a historical suspicion of Conservatives too. Many said that we were 'all as bad as each other' but when we explained that this was a vote about policy rather than electing individuals the most unlikely people became engaged. Often they were surprisingly well informed about the choices on offer and the political reasoning behind them.

And perhaps we have stumbled on something here in Harold Hill? Would more referendums encourage public involvement? Voting systems are not exactly riveting so how much more engaging could other subjects be? A vote on European membership would certainly turn them out. What about a vote on support for the banks? Or a vote on the content of a new British Human Rights Bill?

I think that when you give people real power they will take more notice. When they feel their votes matter they will consider their options, and quite possibly take unpopular decisions. Perhaps they will turn to the news pages when they pick up the paper in the morning, rather than celebrity trash and sports results.

Perhaps something valuable will come out of this unpromising exercise after all - whatever the ballot result.

Hornchurch Passion

2011-04-22T23:26:00.004+01:00

I have just returned from tonight's performance of the Hornchurch Passion Play.

Performed on the village green, this free entry event celebrating the story of Easter, attracted many hundreds of people. Stages erected on scaffolding around the green provide locations for Jesus teaching in the temple, the Last Supper, the trial before Pilate and of course the crucifixion - which takes place on a grassy knoll.

The action is timed so that the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane takes place just as the sun sets. Romans are depicted in modern military dress, with Pilate resembling the Duce of World War II. As darkness falls spotlights follow the actors around the multiple sets. The spectacular piece concludes with the Resurrection and a message of hope for mankind.

A choir and small orchestra provide background music for the ninety minute production, which is well worth seeing. Congratulations to the churches of Hornchurch for this fantastic performance.

The play will be repeated on Saturday and Easter Sunday, starting at 7:30pm. More details can be found at http://www.hpp2011.org/ .

City Hall Reshuffle

2011-04-20T08:34:00.003+01:00

The sad death of Simon Milton meant that some restructuring would be needed - he occupied a position uniquely suited to his talents and it was unlikely that he could be replaced by one individual in the same role. The Mayor looks to have taken the opportunity to institute a wider reshuffle in preparation for the last year before the 2012 election.

Chief Of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Planning

This role is now taken on by Edward Lister, who has been leader of flagship Wandsworth council for almost 20 years, an impressive performance. I have known Eddie for a long time and this appointment recognises his considerable skills. He commands a great deal of respect amongst local government leaders, although he is less conciliatory than Simon and other political parties may be wary of him.

Deputy Mayor for Transport

Not before time, the upgrading of the transport advisor's post recognises the need to finally get a grip of TfL. Isabel Dedring will take on this role. She is an impressive American who came to London with Bob Kiley's team and moved to City Hall to serve as the environment advisor three years ago, following the Boris victory.

Daniel Moylan will also be doubling his time commitment as deputy chairman of TfL, so we can expect to see transport improvements take centre stage in 2011/12.

Economic Policy and Regeneration Advisor

This role will also be beefed up and taken on by Peter Rogers, the former chief executive of Westminster City Council, who has spent the last three years repairing and reorganising the LDA. With LDA functions being transferred to City Hall it makes sense to bring Peter across to oversee them. Peter's grasp of detail and unflappable performances at Assembly meetings have impressed members from all parties.

Manifesto

Anthony Browne moves to the Boris campaign team with the job of writing the 2012 manifesto. He is a very bright guy, fizzing with exciting new ideas - exactly the right person to be thinking big thoughts as the election approaches.

South Woodford Says NO

2011-04-16T15:49:00.003+01:00

This morning we set up our 'No to AV' stall in George Lane, South Woodford. I was joined by councillors Chris Cummins and Paul Canal. We also had the local MP Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work & Pensions and high profile hospital cuts protester, join us for an hour.

Interesting people in AV is challenging - they would much rather have a referendum on our membership of the EU, that would really get people involved. In this case, most are planning not to vote on May 5th and the turnout is likely to be low. A great pity as we could find ourselves facing a major constitutional change without great public enthusiasm.

Most of the people we met are going to vote 'no', but of course there were some 'Yes' enthusiasts as well. One man told me that he wanted to be able to vote Lib Dem but to have a Conservative second choice to keep Ken Livingstone out! Superficially attractive, but is it really such a good idea to enshrine negative voting in the system like that? Won't it encourage negative campaigning? Or the buying of minority votes?

When I got home I found my postal voting form lying on the mat. I could cast this vote without any meaningful precaution to ensure that I am the person entitled to it, and in urban areas there are often allegations of postal vote fraud - surely there are some aspects of our voting system that need reform more urgently than AV.

Sir Simon Milton 1961 - 2011

2011-04-14T16:37:00.002+01:00

A great many mourners attended Simon's funeral in Edgware yesterday. Of course there was a large City Hall contingent, but there were also a lot of present and former Westminster councillors, a number of government ministers and of course Simon's many friends and family. My first sight of Simon was when he took part in a television interview as a young councillor in Westminster. I was new to politics and quite ambitious and I remember thinking that if this was the standard of person I would be competing with, I would have my work cut out. At the time Westminster was going through the upheaval which followed the departure of Dame Shirley Porter. A succession of leaders passed through in quick succession, until Simon took the helm and brought things back under control. Simon was a man of great ability who vastly improved services in Westminster and went on to use his skills and experience leading the Local Government Association. He was good at bringing people together across the political divide and this is where his abilities transcended being merely intelligent or hard working - Simon understood people and could appreciate other points of view. I really only got to know Simon well in 2008 when he arrived at City Hall. The first few months of our administration had been difficult, with the loss of deputy mayor Ray Lewis, and once again Simon brought some much needed stability and hands on experience of local government. He quickly became very close to Boris, accompanying him on every important occasion, making his judgement available. I don't recall ever seeing him lose his temper, even in the most trying of circumstances. Simon helped me out on a number of occasions when things got difficult and I sought advice, which he gave generously, with no strings attached. I feel that I was enriched personally for knowing him. His loss is a great tragedy for our city, and no less a tragedy for his family and his partner Robert. My heart goes out to them in their grief.

Return to Redbridge Roundabout

2011-04-12T21:47:00.002+01:00

This evening I joined representatives of TfL and Redbridge Council at a meeting with Clayhall Ward residents and their councillor, Gurdial Bhamra.

Arriving early I carried out a quick inspection of the subways, following up on my visit with Cranbrook Ward councillors several weeks ago. The subway flooding has been fixed, with repairs to the water pump. All the lighting is now working. Even the litter has been cleaned up, although it is still far from spotless and unlikely to remain clean for as long as thoughtless people dump their rubbish here.

The Problem

So far so good - now onto the meat of the evening. We gathered in the Red House pub on the north side of the roundabout to watch a very clear presentation outlining the traffic problems on the roundabout. The situation is particularly difficult and dangerous for cars entering the roundabout from Redbridge Lane East, the only road not regulated by traffic signals.

The lack of signals is aggravated by a poorly sited pedestrian crossing, a mini roundabout and buses entering the queue from Redbridge Station - some turning right across the traffic.

Throughout the day the situation is dire, with a delay of up to thirty minutes for vehicles approaching the roundabout. This was dramatically illustrated in a video produced by residents and available to view on their website http://www.redrag.info/ .

The Solution

Ideally traffic signals were needed at the junction with the roundabout, but this would be expensive and cause delays in the rest of the roundabout. A cheaper and less disruptive approach would be to lengthen the red phase on the lights controlling access from the A406, to the right of Redbridge Lane East. TfL staff agreed to examine this option.

Meanwhile another option would be to reroute the buses to stop outside the underground station on the A12. TfL were reluctant to make such a change which would make the interchange with the tube more difficult.

Moving the pedestrian crossing further from the roundabout would also smooth traffic flow. TfL and the council were examining proposals to remove the mini roundabout junction immediately before the crossing, replacing it with traffic lights. A crossing could be incorporated into the new junction. Further study - and money - was needed.

Air Quality

Speeding up the traffic flow would reduce emissions in Redbridge Lane East, a very laudable aim. However the proximity of the A406, A12 and the roundabout itself is likely to be so harmful to air quality that minor changes to traffic speed would make little difference. Cleaner engines and less polluting fuels are the only long term solution in this location.

Olympics

The infamous Olympic Route Network, already a bone of contention between myself and the Mayor, will mean changes here during the games. At least we will be spared the orange painted 'zil lanes', but there are plans to clear traffic on the roundabout by preventing access to Redbridge Lane East from noon to midnight during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We agreed that we couldn't see how such a change would actually improve speeds for traffic heading to Stratford, which would be on the inside of the roundabout at this point. TfL representatives agreed to consider the proposals in the light of local objections.

We concluded on this high note. Residents were pleased by TfL's constructive and sympathetic approach, and for their part, I felt the residents had done a good job of demonstrating the problems and devising realistic solutions. We will all be in contact for an update in a few weeks.

Brentwood Mutual Aid

2011-04-12T01:32:00.004+01:00

There are no elections in London this year so we are taking the opportunity to help neighbouring boroughs with their campaigns. This evening we were leafleting in Brentwood, with a sizeable contingent of Havering councillors and the leader of Brentwood Louise McKinlay, standing out in red.

Hospital Protest

2011-04-09T10:37:00.002+01:00

A fantastic protest in support of the campaign to keep King George Hospital yesterday. The sun shone as we gathered outside Queen's Hospital in Romford, banners and yellow T shirts much in evidence. I wore my cream summer suit for the first time this year - The Man From Del Monte says No to KGH closures...

After a morale boosting speech from local MP Andrew Rosindell, we were marshalled into some sort of order by Cllr Andy Walker who has done so much to coordinate the campaign. Councillors from all parties featured in the march, including Havering's official residents and even the independent residents. Cllr Jeff Tucker had brought his own megaphone to encourage us every step of the way.

We set off in beating sunshine, along Crow Lane to Chadwell Heath. All the way passing cars were hooting their support and the locals cheered us on. Just as well, as it was a lot further than had been envisaged and some of the older marchers had started to flag. At this point I made the ultimate sacrifice, taking some of the slower protestors on the number 86 bus, which followed the route of the march, on through Goodmayes and Seven Kings. Along the way we picked up stragglers - good for them for making the effort - until we virtually filled the bus. We considered flying banners out of the top deck but decided that TfL would be unhappy - perhaps hiring an open topped bus for future marches would be a good idea. Or even a bendy, there will be plenty going spare now...

As Ilford came in sight we alighted to complete the final stage on foot. Jeff was still straining the megaphone and there was yet more applause from the people we passed - this is the area that stands to lose most from the closure. An attractive girl dashed over and embraced me spontaneously - is this what it is like to be a socialist? Maybe it has its attractions after all.

At the Town Hall we met local MPs, Lee Scott, Mike Gapes and Margaret Hodge. Pictures were taken on the steps and there was much chanting and arm waving. As a Tory, I don't do this very often and it felt a bit awkward, but it was in a good cause.

The Town Hall itself was packed with over 600 people attending to show their support. The meeting was ably chaired by veteran trade unionist Bob Archer. We heard speeches from all the MPs, but also some really moving contributions from local people. One man told how King George Hospital had saved his son's life after he had a seizure. Support came from Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus and Christians - this campaign is cross community as well as cross party.

As each guest spoke, the faults in the health service proposals were laid bare. The Independent Reconfiguration Panel is now considering the plans and will report to the Secretary of State later this year. They will be visiting the hospitals affected, interviewing MPs and councillors, and most importantly taking evidence of personal experience from the residents. Contributions to this review are vital and can be sent to:

The Independent Review Panel

6th Floor,

157-197 Buckingham Palace Road

LONDON

SW1W 9SP

info@irpanel.org.uk

020 7389 8046

Lobbying the PM

2011-04-07T13:33:00.004+01:00

I have just got back from Downing Street where I joined a delegation from Havering, Redbridge, Barking & Dagenham and Waltham Forest, to present a letter asking the Prime Minister to reject the flawed plans to close the A & E and maternity units at King George Hospital.

With the demonstration and march tomorrow, the campaign is attracting strong cross party support from all four boroughs, including Redbridge's leader Cllr Keith Prince and deputy leader Cllr Ian Bond. The MPs in attendance were Labour's John Cryer, Mike Gapes and Margaret Hodge, and Conservatives Lee Scott, Andrew Rosindell and Angela Watkinson. When we arrived on the doorstep of Number Ten, Iain Duncan Smith came out of the building to join us - perhaps he had taken the opportunity to brief David Cameron personally.

When we handed our letter over we had coverage from the Ilford Recorder, BBC London and London Tonight's Simon Harris, so we can expect to see our efforts on the news tonight and perhaps on Sunday's Politics Show.

A big crowd turned out to show the strength of feeling and there were plenty of bright yellow campaign T shirts in evidence. We can only hope that the government takes note at the highest level and reverses the damaging closure plan.

A Day in 'The Bricks'

2011-04-03T20:24:00.004+01:00

The fifth stage of the Capital Ring leaves behind the parkland of south London and wends a tortuous route through the built up area around Wandsworth Common and Balham. Last week wasn't too much for Pauline who chose to join me once again on this five and a half mile foot bruising trek over level concrete and tarmac. It being Sunday the rail operators were conspiring to keep people out of London with closure of the lines out of Liverpool Street and between London Bridge and Streatham Common, nevertheless we persevered and eventually found ourselves standing where we left off last week - with one important difference, the sun was shining. After a complicated encounter with the main line to Brighton, the walk emerged from a maze of bridges and subways next to the distinctive Thames Water pumping station. Some brisk road walking through Streatham followed, leading to Tooting Bec Common and the large lido. Across the common, the bricks formed a solid barrier and the way threaded around the back streets of Balham. My sister lived here briefly in the eighties before deciding that commuting wasn't for her and returning Up North. Most of the Guisborians came to London at some time and most left before long.

Meanwhile, the route emerged onto busy Balham High Street opposite the rather grand Du Cane Court. A late start meant that it was time for lunch so we took a break at the Nightingale and I had an excellent chargrilled chicken wrap. The service - a friendly French waitress - and the food were excellent and the place was unsurprisingly busy. Across the road we encountered the church of St Mary and John the Divine, an interesting building fronted by a domed baptistry, then it was back into the streets again. The population seem quite young and we encountered a lot of joggers and families. Crossing Wandsworth Common alongside the railway, we came to a series of lakes populated by ducks, cootes and moorhens. No bread so we gave up trying to attract the swans and carried on swiftly past the grim environs of Wandsworth Prison. Oscar Wilde was imprisoned here in 1898 for being gay - what a long way we have come since then. Ronnie Biggs also spent time here in 1963 until he went over the wall. I risked an encounter with the authorities by taking a quick picture of the front gate. The walk down Magdalen Road past the cemetery seemed to go on forever before the watering holes of Earlsfield came in sight. Under the railway bridges, we crossed the River Wandle and I made a silent wish and chucked a coin in. This area was an industrial heartland and is still very built up. Beyond a small park, we passed the Wimbledon Mosque and climbed the only hill of the day to Wimbledon Park Station. London Underground were more cooperative than the main line operators and the District Line carried us effortlessly back to town. All that tarmac and brickwork was quite overwhelming. We are longing for some green space and luckily the next stage crosses the wilds of Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, in my opinion the best part of the Ring. I can't wait!

Capital Ring Day Five - Photographs

2011-04-03T20:17:00.003+01:00

Day five traversed the built up area around Wandswoth Common and the Wandle Valley. Pictures feature the Moorish style Streatham Pumping Station, Art Deco Du Cane Court, the Church of St Mary and John the Divine, and the forbidding gates of Wandsworth Prison.

New Officer Team

2011-03-30T08:20:00.003+01:00

At yesterday's group meeting the new officer team were elected. They will oversee the group in the run up to the 2012 London elections. Group Leader is James Cleverly, the member for Bexley and Bromley. James is a former army officer and chairman of the Mayor's recycling board. Group Deputy Leader is Dick Tracey, the member for Merton and Wandsworth. Dick is our transport spokesman and served as Minister for Sport in Margaret Thatcher's government. Group Whip is Victoria Borwick, a list member and councillor at Kensington & Chelsea. Victoria tells me she is going to get a real whip to add some bite to the role.

Two Is Company

2011-03-29T09:31:00.004+01:00

For day 4 of the Capital Ring I was joined by Pauline, who plays an important role fund raising for the Mayor of Redbridge's charity appeal. The day was overcast and rain fell sporadically as we covered the four miles from Crystal Palace to Streatham. From Crystal Palace station, we crossed Anerley Hill and climbed steeply along roads lined with pleasant houses, to the top of the ridge where the A212 runs. Beyond the road the steep hill slopes down through Westow Park and we leave Bromley behind, entering the sprawling borough of Croydon. At the bottom of the hill is a wide bowl of land surrounded by built up ridges, with the South Norwood transmitter mast looming behind. The path crosses an open space before climbing up again - this stage contains lots of ups and downs as the walk navigates the high ground west of Crystal Palace. A lengthy walk along the A215 concludes with a steep descent at Biggin Hill - not the famous one - to some tennis courts which were fully occupied despite the changeable weather. Passing through a small wood and a calm suburban area, the walk comes to Norwood Grove, and it is time to climb once again, to the house on the hill. Norwood Grove seems to be a large enough mansion, but in fact it is only one wing of the original house, built for Arthur Anderson who founded P & O Shipping. He was obviously not short of a bob or two and was allegedly a supporter of Crystal Palace Football Club. In his spare time Arthur was an MP, representing the Shetland Islands - clearly living in the constituency wasn't such a big deal in the 1840s. The gardens here are well cared for and I paused to be photographed with some red roses. After more undulations the walk arrives at the top of Streatham Common, and a return to civilisation. We had arrived before the pubs opened so contented ourselves with a strong mug of coffee in the local caf. Four miles had passed very swiftly, and just as well because the rain had started to fall. Ahead lies Day Five, a longer walk through more built up terrain, but without any hills to speak of, concluding at Wimbledon Park.

Capital Ring Day 4 - Photographs

2011-03-27T23:03:00.002+01:00

Pictures from Day 4 feature the Upper Norwood TV Mast, a misty view of North Croydon, Norwood Place and Streatham Common.

Mayor's Questions - Cuts and More Cuts

2011-03-25T14:53:00.004Z

A scrappy Mayor's Questions on Wednesday saw the Labour members highlighting government cuts. The strategy had half an eye on the budget, but appeared to be mainly focused on Saturday's TUC march.

Would the Mayor be joining him on the march, John Biggs wanted to know. Joanne McCartney told us that she would be going too - it wasn't clear if they were trying to drum up support or frighten people away. I asked if non marching Londoners as well as the physical property of our great city would be protected by the police, in case things get ugly. Boris promised that all appropriate measures were being taken and that we wouldn't witness the mob violence and vandalism that accompanied the recent student demonstrations - we shall have to wait and see...

Congestion Charge

Darren Johnson called for emergency measures to ensure we hit European air quality targets and avoid a fine of £3 million. Perhaps it would have been a good idea for Labour ministers not to have signed up to this agreement in the first place. Other countries secured opt outs for their cities but this never occurred to the short termist politicians in Blair's administration. It was focus on the press release and ignore the long term consequences - as in so many cases.

Richard Barnes asked Boris to rule out London Wide congestion charging - the most high profile policy of the Green's now confirmed mayoral candidate Jenny Jones. Boris assured us that it wouldn't happen on his watch, but I'm not so sure that Ken Livingstone wouldn't revive the plans he once had to extend the charge to places like Romford. We don't want it, and with the pollution problem confined to Central London, we don't need it either.

King George Hospital

Others have already raised this issue in written questions, but with the plan to close the A & E now referred to the independent reconfiguration panel for review, I decided to seek the Mayor's support. He stuck to his line that clinical outcomes were the most important yardstick - disappointing in a week when his Labour opponent launched a website objecting to the closure.

Although as the plan has been around for several years, attracting opposition from all parties locally, it is surprising that John Healey and Ken Livingstone didn't launch their website twelve months ago. In those days it was a Labour Government plan and Healey was a Labour minister - so perhaps it isn't surprising, just shamelessly opportunistic. Our campaign has attracted respect precisely because it reaches across all parties and non aligned groups. Livingstone's attempts to politicise it for electoral purposes are not welcomed in Redbridge...

Boris in Loxford

2011-03-22T18:09:00.005Z

This morning I joined Boris and HRH the Duchess of Cornwall for a visit to the East London Rape Crisis Centre at Loxford. This was the first time I had met the Duchess and I was very impressed by her down to earth attitude.

We met volunteers from the Hackney based Nia Project and local Victim Support. The East London centre is unusual in that provides support for male victims of sexual violence as well as for women. I also spoke to DI Tim Wilkinson and DC Sadie Juncal who work for the Met's Project Sapphire in Havering and Redbridge - they also live in my constituency so they have a detailed knowledge of the area.

After visiting the centre we walked back to Ilford Station, accompanied by Cllr Michelle Dunn, the newly elected deputy leader of Redbridge Council Conservative Group and her colleague Cllr Matthew Chaudhry who represents Cranbrook Ward.

Ilford Lane is a very diverse shopping area and Boris visited butchers, sweet sellers, fashion boutiques, jewellers and the local pharmacist. Boris is hugely popular on these occasions and we were accompanied every step of the way by a photographer from local newspaper The Nation.

At Ilford Station Boris got a first hand view of the poor facilities which are supposed to be upgraded as part of the Crossrail project. Recent rumours are that Network Rail are cutting back on the overground elements of their part of Crossrail, but improvements to accessibility and security at Ilford Station are essential.

Striding Around South East London

2011-03-20T19:28:00.002Z

It's been a sunny weekend but not too hot - ideal for walking, so I decided to cover a large chunk of ground. After all we never know when it will snow again...

Day Two - Falconwood to Grove Park

This relatively short section - just over 4 miles - is also mostly along level ground. A leisurely saunter, beginning at Falconwood Station.

A concrete bridge takes the path over the railway and the A2 in its deep cutting. The path leads onward through Eltham Park South before following a track past the training ground for Eltham Football Club and a venue - the Butterfly Club - which no doubt sees some action in the evenings.

A long road walk bypasses the centre of Eltham, concluding at the impressive Eltham Palace, the country seat of royalty until Henry VIIIth decided to move his household to Greenwich. The place was sacked by Cromwell's Roundheads who had no respect for history and remained in ruins until the Courtauld family bought it and reconstructed the building in its current stylish form.

Beyond the palace, King John's Walk follows a ridge affording great views of Canary Wharf and the City. Horses are much in evidence here, a clear case of 'bringing the village to the city' as Boris would say.

Down the hill, we cross a railway bridge and scurry over the busy A20 - a pedestrian crossing has been provided since I was last here, so thank you TfL. Entering Mottingham, there is a brief encounter with the borough of Bromley and James Cleverly's constituency. It is very pleasant here, no wonder he got over 100,000 votes!

The village is an odd mix of very old houses and some unattractive blocks of flats, the whole scene dominated by Eltham College where Mervyn Peake was a pupil before he went on to write the Gormenghast trilogy, which I plan to read some time.

Behind the college is a path leading eventually to Grove Park Station, following the Quaggy River - made famous when Boris fell in whilst helping to clear out road cones and shopping trolleys. Of course Ken would never have fallen in the Quaggy River, because it isn't in Zone 1...

Day Three - Grove Park to Crystal Palace

The longest stage of the walk is, at 8.6 miles, a considerable undertaking for us desk bound types. Of course back in the North East we would have knocked it off before breakfast, but things have changed since then...

A long footbridge crosses the main line at Hither Green, affording a view of the train depot and the site of the 1967 derailment in which 49 people died. We tend to think of railway tragedies as a modern phenomenon but a study of history provides a clearer perspective.

In Downham, the path passes the fire station - a far flung outpost of Brian Coleman's empire - before entering the Downham Woodland Walk. This follows a narrow band of trees - miraculously preserved during the development of the area, for over a mile. Lewisham Council had provided some unusual and attractive artwork when I first came this way, but over the years it has deteriorated and become overgrown. Wooden sculptures are half concealed amongst the bushes, so you need to look for them now.

Hurrying over the A21, the walk enters the large Beckenham Place Park, alive with dog walkers on a Sunday morning. There were relatively few unpleasant mastiffs in evidence although mauled branches and tree trunks show that people have been exercising their 'devil dogs'. Winding through woodland, climbing steep steps, you find yourself in the middle of a golf course. The facility is administered from the mansion itself, a grade II listed building constructed by John Cator, a timber merchant whose family name features heavily in these parts. The whole park is in public ownership having been acquired by the London County Council before the War.

Outside the park the route leaves Lewisham and returns to Bromley, and there is the first sighting of the Crystal Palace TV mast - the end of today's walk. It isn't as close as it looks, particularly as the walk winds about a fair bit. The mast will remain tantalisingly on the horizon for the next hour or so...

Crossing the valley of the Pool River seems to take forever. Much of the area is made up of playing fields that once formed recreation grounds for large public utilities and private companies. as costs were cut in the nineties many of these fell into disuse and the owners sought permission for development, which never came. Since I was last here things look to have improved, with new users taking a more active role, funded by modest partial development. I passed the grounds of Kent County Cricket Club, Crystal Palace Football Club and the HSBC Sports Club.

A winding route through parks and streets finally arrives at Penge East Station where it is tempting to drop into the newsagents and buy up anything edible. However I restrained myself, knowing that the dynamic centre of Penge was just around the corner. There is also a surprisingly good cafe just inside Crystal Palace Park.

Sunday is very busy here with huge numbers of small children. A cola lolly helped to restore my E levels to normal whilst I struggled with the map - because they have changed the route...

The new way turns left and leads up alongside the Dinosaur Ponds, definitely worth the detour. Next comes a view of the athletics stadium which is looking a bit rundown, and at long last a close encounter with the TV mast which has dominated the last few miles. Here also is the station and the conclusion of the walk.

Day 4 leaves South east London behind, threading its way north of Croydon whilst avoiding the more built up central areas. I'm looking forward to it.

Capital Ring Day 3 - Photographs

2011-03-20T19:23:00.004Z

Pictures from Day three feature the railway at Hither Green, Beckenham Place, Penge and Crystal Palace TV mast.

Capital Ring Day 2 - Photographs

2011-03-19T17:12:00.002Z

Pictures from day 2 show Eltham Park South, Eltham Palace, the superb view from King John's Walk and Mottingham Lane.

Why I Decided to Stand Down

2011-03-17T18:55:00.002Z

After two and a half years as Conservative Group Leader, I have decided not to seek election to the post this year. This has not been an easy decision, but several factors have weighed heavily in my choice:

First, I want to devote more time to my constituency. The Leader's role is exciting and rewarding but it does entail a lot of meetings and desk work. I prefer to get out and meet people and I will be doing a lot of that in the coming year.

Second, I want to involve myself in more non political campaigns. City Hall is a pretty relaxed place when it comes to party whips - particularly compared to Westminster - nevertheless if I promote issues whilst I am still Group Leader, they are bound to be viewed as Conservative party policy, at least to some extent. I have been speaking fairly freely recently and want to do more of it.

Third, I believe that this is a good time to make a change, as we enter the final year of the Mayoralty. The atmosphere is likely to be more combative in coming months and the Group need someone who will take the fight to the opposition and lead the election campaign.

Leading the Conservative Group is a real privilege. Not only is it the largest group ever elected to City Hall - with eleven members - I also believe that it is the most able and experienced group ever elected. I have enjoyed great support from my officer team: My Deputy James Cleverly, whose 'can do' attitude is really refreshing and valuable in politics. My Whip Richard Tracey, who has given me fantastic advice during some tense and tricky negotiations. My office manager Robert Rams, who effortlessy runs a big and complex department, producing vital briefings and supporting some demanding members.

Finally, I would like to place on record my gratitude to all our professional researchers and caseworkers who carry much of our daily load.

And I have enjoyed working with Boris - a unique and positive experience from which I have personally learned a great deal.

The new team of officers will be elected by the Group on 29th March. I wish them well and undertake to give them my full support in the run up to the 2012 election and through Boris' second term.

A Battering at Battersea

2011-03-16T08:45:00.003Z

Last night's Question Time was hosted by the Battersea Arts Centre, a trust occupying the former Battersea Town Hall. The building is supposed to be one of the birthplaces of the Labour Party, but relaxing in the bar with Martin of Mayorwatch, it was hard to believe that such an aberration could have crawled from such a pleasant venue.

The audience were pleased to see Boris and they gave us an enthusiastic welcome, although this was tempered by the number of special interests demanding public cash - don't they realise the economic climate has changed. Local assembly member Richard Tracey chaired the event, opening the meeting with a short speech extolling the virtues of his constituency. He concluded by congratulating Wandsworth Council on their low council tax, to cheers from the audience, and a few hisses from isolated socialists.

Boris then wowed the crowd with his report, stating his intention to put the village back into the city with much needed environmental improvements. He congratulated Wandsworth on exporting TV aerials to China, and referred to the discovery of an iron age jewelled shield at Battersea Bridge - a civilisation that had collected the wealth of its residents and thrown it in the river, rather like Gordon Brown's government...

Assembly Chair Dee Doocey kept her comments brief and we were straight into the questions:

Policing

Richard rather generously selected the Labour Leader from Wandsworth to ask the first question and was rewarded with an accusation that police numbers were being cut. Boris begged to differ, stating that numbers would increase by 1,200 over his term in office. John Biggs accused him of lying, which did not play well with the audience. Kit Malthouse made an excellent contribution, dealing with the change in numbers and the planned redeployment of sergeants out of some neighbourhood teams.

Another questioner raised the possibility of 'insurrection' and asked if the police were ready to deal with more riots. The Mayor reassured him that the police were prepared to deal with all eventualities, including flood, epidemics and of course 'insurrection'.

A nice blonde lady congratulated Boris and the Assembly on our efforts to reduce knife crime and youth crime. Matthew from the UK Youth Parliament asked for more opportunities for police and young people to build positive relationships. Boris talked about joint sporting events, outreach programmes and police cadets.

Transport

The first complaint - that Boris had failed to extend the Tube to Croydon and Wandsworth - seemed a bit premature, only three years into his term.

A request to extend bike hire to Wandsworth attracted a more positive response. Cycle Superhighway 7 already runs to Wandsworth and Boris proudly declared that he had used it to get to the meeting.

A blind man complained that there were no staff to help him at Kings Cross, Victoria and Upton Park. This is inexcusable particularly at such busy stations and Boris promised to take the matter up with London Underground.

A lady from Age Concern complained about poor bus driving standards, cyclists using the pavement and excessive street furniture - all issues the Assembly has raised in the past, and it appears we will have to return to them in the future.

There was a brief discussion of airport capacity, with Boris stoutly defending his call for more flights to London, and his 'Boris Island' plan for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

Environment

Residents raised their long running concerns about Thames Water's Super Sewer. Tony Arbour stated that Thames Water had failed to do their homework, relying on the easy option of building on available green spaces. He was pleased that the plan to use the Barn Elms site had been shelved.

A councillor from Northcote Ward complained that Labour Lambeth Council were going to allow a giant camp site on Clapham Common as part of the Royal Wedding celebrations. This would attract 10,000 people damaging the common and disturbing residents. Boris replied that this just showed how much Lefties loved the Royal Family...

Olympics

The Mayor of Merton asked for reassurances about security and transport for the Olympic tennis venue at Wimbledon. Boris assured her that LOCOG were planning for every eventuality and extending Cycle Superhighways to Wimbledon would be considered.

There was a vexed discussion about ticket allocation, with Dee Doocey making much of the tickets allocated to London boroughs and government which would 'all go to politicians'. Of course the tickets will be charged and are more likely to be allocated to local charities and sporting groups. Nevertheless, this exchange highlighted a moral minefield and I'm pleased to say that in Havering and Redbridge we have decided to turn down the ticket offer and save ourselves the associated controversy.

Exclusive Olympic traffic lanes were mentioned and I decided to pitch in, noting that the privileged users included not only athletes, but foreign dignitaries and journalists. I added, to some applause that we should limit the lanes as far as possible, tightly controlling their use and removing them immediately after the games. Emboldened by colleagues behind me I added that perhaps we should hire some mini buses, to make more economic use of the road space and avoid the spectacle of limousines and cavalcades sweeping past frustrated Londoners. At this point Boris shouted "BOLLOCKS!" and I began to wonder if I had gone off message... There goes my career.

Next Meeting

The session concluded with a few questions about housing provision and planning. The Albert Bridge closure was also raised and Richard Tracey assured residents that the bridge would be reopened in September after being 'largely rebuilt'.

He then closed the meeting, adding that the next Boris Question Time would be on 7th June at Kingston's Rose Theatre.

And the next official Peoples' Question Time will take place on 7th November at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch.

Redbridge Roundabout

2011-03-14T16:09:00.004Z

On Sunday morning I paid a visit to Redbridge Roundabout with Cranbrook Ward Councillors Matthew Chaudhry and Ashok Kumar.

The major junction, where the North Circular and the A12 meet is maintained in part by TfL and in part by the council. Access across the roads is afforded by several concrete subways. These are not pleasant places but the proximity of Redbridge underground station means that they are quite busy during the mornings and evenings and this discourages crime. Not so for the rest of the day and night, unfortunately.

Graffiti has been cleared recently and the concrete walls are looking about as good as they ever will. However litter has started to collect again and the area could do with a good tidying up. More seriously the lights have failed in the subway linking to Studley Drive and this needs to be fixed urgently. So do the drains in the subway linking to Royston Gardens where water has backed up to submerge the grates - rain often leads to flooding in this subway, effectively making it impassable.

These faults will be reported to TfL for action.

Let's Go Round Again

2011-03-13T08:19:00.003Z

It has been a few years since I last completed the Capital Ring, a 75 mile circumnavigation of London, so I have set out to do it again this year.

Saturday was cool but sunny as I set out on stage 1, a 7.1 mile walk through the green spaces of Greenwich, from Woolwich to Falconwood. There is a lot of climbing on this section which makes for quite a demanding start to the walk.

With the Woolwich Foot Tunnel closed, I started at Woolwich Arsenal DLR station. I haven't visited Woolwich since the 1990s and rebuilding works make the town centre confusing. Luckily I have a very good sense of direction and I set off from Starbucks filled with confidence - ten minutes later I was back at Starbucks having gone the wrong way...

The route proper begins at the Woolwich Ferry and a pleasant stretch along the river followed, with good views of the Thames Barrier. Just before the barrier the riverside path is forced away from the river and there are some close encounters with heavy traffic before entering the green oasis of Maryon Park.

At this point the walk climbs away from the river, ascending a long flight of steps and further gentle slopes through Maryon Wilson Park, passing an animal enclosure festooned with dire health and safety warnings.

Reaching the top of the hill the walk enters Charlton Park, a favourite venue for weekend footballers. Here also is the Jacobean mansion, Charlton House. It was originally built for Sir Adam Newton, tutor to King James I - they certainly knew how to reward teachers in those days - and now it houses a community centre and library. The picture in the earlier post shows the house in all its glory, but the ha ha is difficult to make out.

Onwards, through Hornfair Park and across the open expanse of Woolwich Common. Crossing the busy South Circular, the path enters woods and climbs steeply to the derelict Severndroog Castle. This unusual structure was built to commemorate Sir William James, who captured an Indian fortress of the same name. Severndroog also marks the highest point on the Capital Ring - it's all downhill from here.

On the descent I met some nice ladies from Lithuania who were admiring the view. It is so often the case that visitors value the unique aspects of our city more than those of us who live here. I paused for a quick photograph.

The next section threads its way through Oxleas Wood on a maze of paths, helpfully signposted by Capital Ring and Green Chain markers. A busy cafe at Oxleas Meadows provides refreshments - two bottles of water - and a great view. There are always lots of dog walkers here and the place echoes to the sound of barking and owners' shouts as they try to control their pooches. Nice to see that most of the dogs were family pets - very few status mastiffs were on show.

Descending through the woods, I encountered a group of volunteers clearing brush and cutting back the undergrowth. A couple of workers prepared tea and biscuits on a trestle table - a fine example of the Big Society in action.

The blasting of traffic in the deep A2 cutting signalled a return to 'civilisation', and it was a short walk to Falconwood station and the train back to town.

The next stage from Falconwood to Grove Park is much shorter and easier, but it has some great views and an encounter with Eltham Palace. I'm looking forward to it already...

Capital Ring Day 1 - Photographs

2011-03-12T18:43:00.004Z

A lovely morning in South London. Pictures show the Woolwich Ferry, The Thames Flood Barrier, Charlton House, Severndroog Castle and Oxleas Meadows.

Campaign Progress - and Fund Raising Dinner

2011-03-07T21:18:00.003Z

The campaign to save our accident & emergency unit continues. This afternoon a delegation from Redbridge visited the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) HQ in Buckingham Palace Road. The rather complex title belies the fact that these are the people who will give the thumbs up or down to the closure plans.

Arriving early, I took the opportunity to speak to the board secretary about our campaign and he assured me that the board would consider all submissions fairly.

I was joined by Redbridge councillors Andy Walker (Labour, and the driving force behind our objections) and Chris Cummins (Conservative chairman of the health scrutiny committee), and we handed in a letter drawing attention to the overloading of the services at Queen's Hospital and pointing out that they were in no condition to carry the extra demand which would be created by the KGH closure.

The next step will be a fund raising dinner on Friday evening in Chadwell Heath.

UPDATE: The dinner at the Tamarind in Chadwell Heath was a great success, raising several hundred £s for the campaign. Thanks to Cllr Andy Walker for organising the event. I'm adding a picture of the evening...

Alternative Funding

2011-03-04T13:28:00.003Z

With funding cuts and government struggling to recover from Labour's financial mismanagement, the hunt is on for alternative methods of funding capital projects. The budget committee spent a couple of hours taking evidence from experts in TfL and the GLA yesterday morning.

Crossrail, Tube upgrades and Thameslink are all able to go ahead but other projects, notably the extension of the Northern Line to Battersea will need to be funded by innovative methods. Because transport projects usually generate an increase in property values along the route, some form of land value taxation could be considered. This was always a favourite with former TfL deputy chair Dave Wetzel, but unfortunately he was not around to offer his opinion.

Battersea Power Station has been an ill starred development site for a long time, with various proposals coming and going whilst the giant building - closed thirty years ago - falls into dereliction. The latest plans look like coming to fruition and as it is now just about the last bit of undeveloped river bank, they look to generate considerable profits. However as always there was a risk that land values would fail to rise and the revenue would not be created, or that the balance between residential and commercial uses would fail to maximise income, or that the amount raised would still cover only a fraction of the cost of the line extension - the experts differed on this, predicting that anything from a tenth to two thirds of the cost could be raised.

Of course some of us remember Ken's predictions that rising land values in the Lea Valley would pay for the Olympics, and that the house he bought for Bob Kiley would be sold at a profit...

Crossrail

Discussion turned to the community infrastructure levy (CIL) which will generate some £300 million for the Crossrail project. In effect this will be a 'planning gain' charge attached to developments within Greater London. Local authorities already raise money in this way, but its use is restricted to major developments. The CIL will apply to all non domestic planning applications.

The plan has raised major concerns amongst London's councils and Bromley have agreed to mount a legal challenge - not for the first time, for those who remember 'Fares Fair'.

The first problem is that the CIL will only apply within Greater London. The extra cost of development will tend to push businesses over the border into the Home Counties, particularly from outer London boroughs. There is also a reasonable argument that Crossrail is a project with national benefits, so the whole country should pay. A stretch to ask Scotland and Wales to cough up perhaps, but Crossrail will actually stop at Brentwood and Maidenhead, so it is only fair that they make some contribution. It feels like the London only Olympic levy all over gain.

Then there are concerns about the distribution of the charge within London. The legislation that enables the CIL does not allow the charge to be focused along the route where the benefits will be felt. The only variation that is allowed across London is based on existing property values and there are three charging bands. Luckily Havering is in the cheapest band and Redbridge is in the middle band - both get the benefits of access to the route and new stations, so far so good. However Richmond is in the top band and the line goes nowhere near them - needless to say they are not happy, and other north and south London boroughs share their concerns.

CIL only applies to Crossrail at present, but the witnesses accepted that it could be used to raise money for other transport projects, including a resurrected Cross River Tram. The legislation seems blunt and doesn't consider London's size and variation - not for the first time - so the witnesses did agree that the government should be pressed to make changes next time the matter came up for debate.

London Conference

2011-02-28T16:51:00.002Z

Saturday saw the London Conservative conference, kindly hosted at Hammersmith Town Hall. Left wing bloggers billed it as a 'secret gathering' and promised a large demonstration - but as it started early on a Saturday morning and it was pouring with rain very few people turned up to man the picket lines - I guess the revolution will have to wait.

Inside a packed hall, we were addressed by Boris who outlined his achievements and his plans to seek a second term. He takes his opponent seriously, describing Ken as a 'seasoned campaigner - more than seasoned, marinated perhaps or even embalmed.' He took some good natured questions and our own Cllr Nick Hayes made the best of the opportunity to seek assurances that the overground improvements which form part of Crossrail would still take place. Boris pointed out that Network Rail were responsible for the stations in Redbridge and Havering, and that he would lobby them to ensure the essential improvements were made.

Lynton Crosby spoke to us about the campaign, revealing all the secret details which I won't repeat here. Then we had sessions on the No To AV campaign and the upcoming boundary review which will see London lose several Parliamentary seats.

Then we were addressed by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, who talked about his support for Crossrail and his commitment to transport in London. Governments always face pressure from Scottish and Northern MPs to cut London's funding so it is reassuring to have the Minister on our side. He acknowledged that he faces a fight over high speed rail but is determined to press ahead with it as the only viable alternative to airport expansion in the south east.

We broke for lunch with our MEPs, providing them with an opportunity to talk about their work and face the tough grilling that this subject always attracts at party meetings.

Then it was on with the afternoon, and a session on local government chaired by Wandsworth Leader Edward Lister and featuring a star panel - including myself. I spoke about how proportional voting had twisted London Assembly politics, giving Lib Dems and Greens far more power than they merited, and talked about the sometimes tense relationship between my team and the Mayor's office. We also had a good discussion about cutting waste, sharing services and improving procurement to get a better deal for taxpayers.

With that session completed it was time to slip away. I had to miss the final session with London's new MPs because I was off to the Havering Mayor's fund raising evening. A very exciting boxing match and dinner hosted at the Prince Regent Hotel in Chigwell. There was just time for me to get home and change for the event.

A productive Saturday with plenty of jabs and crosses hitting the target!

Big Budget Day

2011-02-24T16:43:00.002Z

Wednesday saw the agreement of 2011/12 budgets both at City Hall and Havering Council.

Greater London Authority

Boris presented his final budget to a full meeting of the assembly. He had noted our concerns about plans to spend £6 million on the 101 single telephone number for public services in London. He assured us that he would be reviewing the project. Having received this assurance, the Conservative Group withdrew that part of its amendment.

Political groups presented amendments that remained largely unchanged from two weeks earlier, with the exception of the Greens who wanted to spend £4 million on the Year of Walking. None of the amendments attracted enough votes to clear the necessary two thirds hurdle required for their adoption.

John Biggs lost his temper with the mayor, calling him a 'lazy liar' and a lot more before the chair proposed a vote to exclude him from debate - which was passed. Biggs is often casually rude but it seems to arise from thoughtlessness and I don't take offence. There is however something about Boris that gets under his skin and sometimes he really loses it. This was one of those occasions and it was the first time in its history that the assembly voted to silence one of its own members - not a very welcome precedent, particularly as the session was going out live on BBC Parliament.

With no amendments, the mayor's budget was approved by default, giving Londoners another year's council tax freeze, the third in a row - contrasting with Livingstone's 154% increase over his term of office.

London Borough of Havering

With riots and the police called to some council meetings, we were on the edge of our seats in the evening. However there were no protests and the meeting was very civilised.

Over the years Havering has become accustomed to being short changed by central government, so the council is used to introducing efficiencies and sharing services to save costs. The difficult budget was masterfully constructed by Cllr Roger Ramsey and his team of finance officers, working with the unions who therefore did not find it necessary to wave placards outside the meeting.

The Labour opposition didn't propose any alterations to the budget, although a couple of them did dedicate their speeches to polishing Gordon Brown's reputation, after young Conservative councillors made references to the dreadful economic legacy he had left.

The Official Residents' Association councillors proposed introducing free parking in their wards and paying for it by cutting special responsibility allowances and consultancy fees. This is pretty much what they do every year.

The Independent Resident's Association Group (yes, it really is like Monty Python's Life Of Brian) proposed spending £5,000 on a legal challenge to force more grant from the government, but this was disallowed by the Mayor because they had failed to identify where the money was coming from and £5k won't get you a cup of tea at the High Court these days.

With little else on the table the opposition groups congregated around the free parking amendment which fell to the overwhelming Tory majority. However there was some consolation for them in the Leader's announcement that several committees would be scrapped along with the chair's allowances (my own Partnerships Scrutiny Committee included). The Deputy Mayor would also have his allowance ceased, although he would still fulfil his duties.

The administration budget was approved, freezing the council tax at £1,505 for a Band D property.

Save The Accident & Emergency

2011-02-20T10:32:00.003Z

Following last week's council resolution, there was a meeting of representatives from Havering and Redbridge on Friday, to plan the way forward.

New figures obtained from the plans show that outer London is set to lose out again. With A & E focused on Queen's Hospital for three London boroughs, that overstretched unit will have to serve a population of over 700,000. This compares unfavourable with the North East Inner London hospitals each serving a single borough of just 200,000 people. No doubt the statistics claiming that Inner London has greater 'needs', poverty etc. will be trotted out again but account never seems to be taken of Havering's large elderly population. Older people need more hospital services.

And whilst Waltham Forest Council have decided no to oppose the changes, we noted that there had been no assessment of the additional pressure that will be placed on A & E at Whips Cross Hospital. Residents of Wanstead and Woodford are far more likely to present themselves there rather than travel all the way to Romford.

Consultation

It was noted that the response to the original consultation had been very low. Of 57,000 questionnaires sent out, only 3,080 (5.4%) had been returned. Of these, 29% were returned by NHS employees who obviously have access to more information about the changes and who view them largely from their position as providers rather than users of the service.

Campaign dates

The main event will be the rally on Friday 8th April, with a march starting from Queen's Hospital at 4pm. The march will conclude - for those who stick with it - at Ilford Town Hall where all the MPs from the two boroughs will address the crowd. There will also be some words of support from former Mayor Ken Livingstone.

The day before - Thursday 7th April - will see a visit to Downing Street by a delegation of six councillors from both boroughs, to deliver a letter making the case for keeping the A& E at King Georges.

And campaigns always need money so we are arranging a fund raising dinner for 11th March, venue to be announced, but somewhere convenient for both boroughs is being sought.

Our next campaign meeting will take place on 4th March.

After the meeting Redbridge Cllr Andy Walker did a short interview with me and it can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlTr909EYYs

Tube Summit

2011-02-15T19:52:00.004Z

This afternoon I joined other politicians for a meeting with Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor's transport advisor.

Our main concern was the recent disruption on London Underground, for once not the result of industrial action, but a consequence of equipment failures. Kulveer explained that much of the new equipment needed several weeks to bed in. Making changes to the Tube during running hours was like performing heart surgery on someone running the marathon - well perhaps not quite that challenging, but you get the picture.

Jubilee

The worst problems have centred around the introduction of a new moving block signalling system. This will enable automatic train operation and is being welcomed by train drivers as a massive improvement. More trains can be run and irregularities in the timetable will be corrected automatically. But the new system is having teething troubles and there have been rumblings of discontent at Canary Wharf and Westminster.

Kulveer told us that he had spent two weeks visiting the line on the Mayor's personal instructions to see the problems for himself. He was convinced that they were being resolved and the a good, reliable service would be available soon.

Victoria

A similar situation, this time arising from the introduction of new trains. Here the sensitivity of the doors had led to failures of service, but again Kulveer assured us that the worst of the problems was behind us now.

The renewal of escalators at Victoria Station was going to cause rush hour congestion and passengers were advised to find alternative routes at busy times. The work would be done quickly, but even so it was expected to take seven months. Interestingly, the Victoria Line escalator at this station is the second busiest in the world - not a lot of people know that...

Central

I have noticed that our own Central Line has been experiencing delays too. In this case the culprit was a faulty signal card, which sets the timetable and operates the signals accordingly. After two breakdowns the fault had been rectified and the line was now operating a good service.

I was very impressed by Kulveer's detailed knowledge and his clear commitment to passengers. He is optimistic about the quality of service in the future, but he knows that I will be back to see him again if things don't improve.

Budget Day (Number One)

2011-02-13T20:44:00.002Z

Thursday saw the first of two budget debates, with the Mayor presenting his proposals for 2011/12. The Assembly has the power to amend the budget if two thirds of the members can support the change - but that has never happened...

The Budget

Boris led off with his budget speech. Once again he had frozen the council tax precept, a continuing policy which now amounted to a 10% cut in bills over three years, and contrasted with Livingstone's 152% inflation busting increases. Council tax impacts particularly on pensioners and others on fixed incomes, and Boris felt that they would welcome his value for money approach, particularly as so many are struggling in the financial mess that Labour bequeathed them.

Discussing policing, Boris was proud to announce the end of the recruitment freeze. Money vired from the Fire Authority budget would help to boost police numbers and the Mayor promised that there would be more police on the streets by next year than there were when he came to office - a proud legacy. Moving to single patrolling in quieter areas had also freed up another 330 officers, and the concerted effort to move them out of desk jobs and onto the streets would continue.

For transport, Boris pleased London's boroughs by announcing that funding from TfL would be held at 2011/12 levels for two more years - this had originally been slated for a cut, but they had found £22 million for environmental and transport improvements at local level. The Mayor emphasised that support from the boroughs was vital to the delivery of his policies - a welcome contrast with Ken who always seemed to be at war with council leaders.

LDA funding was still sketchy as negotiations with central government continued, but Boris hoped to be able to bring us more good news soon.

A short statement from budget committee chairman John Biggs followed, then there were two hours of questions. As these concluded, each group was invited to move its amendments.

Conservative Group

We sought to produce yet more savings and cut the precept.

Firstly, by seeking a 15% cut in the support budget for all political groups. At a time when front line services are under threat, protecting the political support budget cannot be justified. Last year we made the same proposal but the other groups vetoed it, no doubt unsure if it could be achieved. Over 2010/11 we have made considerable savings by sharing some personal assistants and researchers, and removing some of the management. Having proved that it can be done, we would like to see the other groups follow suit.

We also sought to delete a £6 million spend on the 101 telephone number project. Always a questionable investment, improvements in technology and changes in behaviour now make a universal phone number for public services obsolete.

Other than these suggestions, we welcomed the Mayor's budget, especially the council tax freeze and the greater support for boroughs.

Labour

Whilst agreeing with the precept freeze, Labour had different priorities.

They would use TfL reserves to hold down bus fares, fund step free station access projects, and guarantee more Tube station staff, in a nod to Ken's rail union supporters. They also proposed ceasing the project to smooth traffic flow by removing unnecessary traffic signals.

At the Met they would provide 200 more police officers and invest more in tackling youth crime, to be paid for by savings in the overtime budget and the police media department.

Interestingly they supported the Fire Authority budget, despite having voted against it at the Authority's earlier budget meeting. A case of Ed Milliband's 'blank page' perhaps?

Liberal Democrats

There were no signs of 'coalitionism' at City Hall, as the Lib Dems promoted their own ideas:

Once again they proposed their One Hour Bus Ticket, a big idea which featured in last year's offering. Another big idea was an Inner London Low Emission Zone. £10 million would be saved by delaying the roll out of cycle superhighway routes 2,5,8 and 12. Route 2 runs from Aldgate to Bow and I am already getting demands from Redbridge to extend it to Ilford. They would save another £15 million by ending free travel for partners of TfL employees.

In policing, they also targeted the directorate of public affairs for a large cut and sought to save £500,000 by cutting our payments to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Extra police would be used to bolster neighbourhood teams and to deal with child trafficking at Heathrow and St. Pancras.

Greens

As usual, Darren and Jenny came up with the most radical proposals:

Cutting police overtime, cutting back on surveillance and reducing the Territorial Support Group (the controversial unit which polices demonstrations) would provide savings to be spent on supporting safer neighbourhood teams. £3 million would be spent on traffic policing, and £1 million would be invested in training to improve public order policing.

A 'retro' transport budget would save money by retaining bendy buses and reintroducing the congestion charge Western Extension Zone. Scrapping work on river crossings in the Thames Gateway would save a further £1 million. Congestion charge would be whacked up to £16, with a special charge of £30 for highly polluting vehicles. The money raised would be used to introduce a new 'Very Low Emission Zone' and to increase funding for cycle lanes, pedestrian crossings, and 20mph zones.

At the LDA they proposed cutting the academy programme and scrapping the 101 number project, to pay for more home energy efficiency.

Common Ground

Needless to say none of the above alternatives commanded a two thirds majority.

The three opposition groups got together to pass a critical motion which ensures the budget process will continue with a final vote on 23 February.

And finally, seeing the Green's proposal on the 101 number, we set up another motion calling on Boris to scrap the plans. This was supported unanimously by all four groups and was actually the only constructive proposal that we could all agree on!

Now Boris will go away and consider our comments. He will also continue negotiations with central government over the LDA budget, returning with finalised proposals in two weeks.

Councillors United

2011-02-07T18:26:00.004Z

Last Wednesday saw a rare example of councillors uniting across the political divide to save the local accident and emergency unit. The Health Service proposal to close the unit at King Georges Hospital in Redbridge and to move the service to Romford's new Queen's Hospital has been debated for several years.

At Redbridge there is great concern about the loss of the borough's accident and emergency unit. Ambulances will take longer to get to Queen's Hospital and where accident victims are involved, time is vital. Visitors will also struggle if they don't have access to a car, as public transport to Queen's is poor in some parts of Redbridge. In some cases a two stage bus journey via Romford town centre will be unavoidable.

There is cross party opposition at Redbridge Council and on Wednesday two councillors, Bellwood and Walker, made up a delegation to Havering, urging the council to join them.

In Havering there will also be problems, because the new hospital is struggling to manage the number of patients it already serves. Lack of capacity has been an ongoing problem and there is also a shortage of visitor parking, despite the council's insistence that more places be provided when the hospital was built. Havering has many elderly people who need to use the already stretched hospital.

Furthermore, other health services have also been moved to Queen's creating more pressure on the hospital. I was surprised when my own doctor's surgery stopped taking blood samples and referred me to the hospital - being a busy person, I haven't had time to attend, and I wonder how many other patients have missed out on care in similar circumstances.

The Redbridge delegation were delighted when Havering councillors lined up to support them. I denounced the proposal as a diabolical plan that will harm the residents of both boroughs and more widely in East London and Essex. Labour leader Cllr Keith Darvill worried that the plan was risky in current circumstances. Independent Residents Association councillor Jeff Tucker pledged to leaflet his Rainham ward in support of the campaign and to bring his megaphone to any protests. Conservative Cabinet Member Cllr Robert Benham had already attended one protest march and he commended the cross party support he witnessed. Streetcare Boss Cllr Barry Tebbutt voiced his concern that the Queen's site would need substantial extra building to accommodate parking and services. Opposition Leader Cllr Clarence Barrett pledged the support of his Residents association Group.

After a passionate debate - which featured several members discussing their own experiences with the health service - the council unanimously approved the following motion:

This council agrees to oppose the withdrawal of services from King Georges Hospital to the detriment of health care for the residents of Havering, to protect and improve services at the Queen's Hospital, and requests cabinet to examine the implications of these proposals and to send a delegation of members of the council consisting of at least one representative of each political group to meet with the all party group of councillors of the London Borough of Redbridge to work with them.

A protest rally is planned for 8th April when many political leaders from both boroughs will line up to voice their opposition.

Business Management Committee

2011-02-01T15:25:00.002Z

This morning the committee of senior members who oversee the scrutiny function met. The main business was to take evidence from Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes, who presented the annual equality report.

Equalities

In an era when much needed front line services are under threat, it may seem strange that the equality agenda is still such a high priority. At City Hall we have been seeking to mainstream equalities practices within existing management structures, thereby dispensing with much of the specialist equalities team that grew up during the Livingstone years. In 2008 there were 22 diversity officers and this number was rapidly halved to 11 after Boris came to power. Subsequently staff turnover has reduced this number to five. At LFEPA Brian Coleman has removed all the diversity officers.

Yet there has been much useful work. Richard Barnes is particularly proud of 'Diversity Works', a scheme to help businesses harness the benefits of a diverse workforce and supplier base. The innovative scheme is being taken on by the devolved Welsh and Scottish governments and plans are in train to apply it at a national level, possibly culminating in an industry standard similar to the respected 'Investors in People'.

Audit

As Chairman of the Audit Panel, I supported a proposal to use MPA auditors at City Hall in future. This would provide an annual saving of £24k from the current contract and is a good example of sharing services across the GLA to make savings. The MPA audit team currently do a good job on the police service and have qualified staff who work to CIPFA best practice.

An audit plan will now be agreed by the audit panel on 8th March, providing 350 days of cover, and this will be reviewed in the middle of next year.

Civil Contingency Arrangements

With the mayor taking on responsibility for resilience and civil contingency, it was agreed that our committee would take on the responsibility of scrutinising this aspect of his work, on a temporary basis. The impending abolition of the MPA will lead to a reorganisation of Assembly functions and at this point the resilience work will be allocated permanently to a more appropriate committee.

GLA Staffing Changes

In 2008 GLA staff levels stood at 701. Under Boris, the number fell to 582 by September 2009, but it has drifted back up to 623 since then. Although the reorganisation has achieved significant savings, the committee agreed to carry out a review of this downsizing to get a clear picture of the organisation before the effects of the impending localism legislation.

With staff turnover down to 8%, City Hall is clearly a much more attractive place to work.

Mayor's Questions - Opposition Get Their Act Together

2011-01-26T14:23:00.005Z

This morning saw the first Mayor's Question Time of 2011. For once the three left wing groups had decided to work together on a common theme - 'the Mayor has misled Londoners'. Perhaps we will see more of this cooperation as the year progresses. The public gallery was also much thinner than usual.

Airport Capacity

The 'progressives' led off with the mayor's recent declaration that London needed more air capacity because there were more flights to China from Paris and Frankfurt. Labour accused Boris of providing misleading figures and a slightly torrid argument about the number of planes between China and London ensued - the crux seemed to be whether Hong Kong was included in the total.

There was broad agreement that Heathrow expansion was beyond the pale, but nods of approval were given to using Manston or building a new Thames Estuary airport, with Stansted, Gatwick and Luton getting mentioned too. Wherever is designated, there will be much local opposition which I suspect means that expansion won't be happening.

Conservative, Andrew Boff spelt out his worries about expansion at City Airport, following the unfavourable court decision earlier this month. Residents are concerned about the increase in flights and consequent noise and pollution in East London.

Cycling

Green, Jenny Jones, had another go about cycling. Given the almost religious zeal which animates Boris on this topic, it is perhaps not the best point to attack - this time she was accusing him of underspending the budget. Andrew Boff made the point that after cycling to work almost on his own for many years, he was now accompanied by many new bike users of all shapes, sizes and ages. So more cyclists, lower spending, sounds good to me. Clearly Jenny knows the price of everything and the value of nothing, as they say...

GLA Pay

With pay for AMs and senior staff frozen this year, Labour's Len Duvall asked if Boris was satisfied with pay rates at City Hall. This gave the Mayor a good opportunity to highlight the decrease in the payroll from Livingstone's £27 million to the new slimline £19 million. In the bad old days 52 people were earning over £80k per year and now this was reduced to just 32 people.

Main Line Railways

Lib Dem Caroline Pidgeon set out to blame Boris for problems on the main line railways, which seems a bit unfair as they are the only part of London's transport network that he doesn't control. She felt there should be more staffed stations and urged the mayor to demand control of the network, within the boundaries of Greater London.

Boris said he was seeking greater involvement in the award of franchises to operators and lauded his success in getting them to accept Oyster pay as you go

Conservative James Cleverly warned of so called 'railheading' during the Olympics, as travellers from outside London parked up in the suburbs to use the transport network. Cheaper tickets for travel to the games would alleviate the problem. Dick Tracey suggested park and ride schemes based on brown field development sites for the duration of the Olympics.

Banksters

Labour's John Biggs attacked the mayor for suggesting that banks might leave the country - after all, they hadn't gone had they? Had Boris been excessively alarmist? John tried at one point to draw a distinction between moral and immoral banks - a very grey and subjective area. For someone who represents the Square Mile and Canary Wharf, John doesn't exactly ooze enthusiasm about their main businesses.

I pointed out that these institutions (moral or immoral) employ many more people than just the highly paid experts we always hear about. Furthermore, they provide essential custom for small businesses that spring up in the shadow of their gleaming towers. Apart from some vague talk about manufacturing, the progressives had failed to articulate an alternative business model to sustain the capital if the financial sector did decamp to Zurich.

Environment

Boris was on the receiving end of a lecture from Lib Dem Mike Tuffrey about reducing the CO2 output at City Hall. The figures were still being calculated but the Mayor expected to have come close to reducing emissions by 10% during 2010. James Cleverly suggested that staff could help by turning off their computer terminals at night - on the 6th floor, which houses the Conservative Group 95% of computers were turned off. On the 7th floor, the home of Labour, Lib Dems, Greens and the Climate Change Fan Club, only 93% were turned off - another case of the progressives preaching rather than practising.

Tube Strikes

Chairman Dee Doocey followed the example of transport chair Val Shawcross, clamping down on Conservative attempts to raise the strike issue again. They seem very keen not to discuss union militancy, possibly because Livingstone is supported by the unions. Unfortunately for travelling Londoners, the matter just won't go away...

And this afternoon we saw the results of the 'progressives' efforts in a brief Evening Standard piece, evidently based on a joint press release which gave credit to Labour, Lib Dems and Greens, without naming any individual member. The article mentioned several matters which were not even raised during debate, indicating that the release had been drafted and sent out before the meeting took place. The intended message was 'Boris misleads Londoners' but the real message is 'Vote Labour, Green or Lib Dem if you want Livingstone back'.

Upminster Depot

2011-01-23T09:58:00.002Z

2009 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the London Underground depot at Upminster. Situated at the most Eastern extremity of the network, this is where the District Line trains are stabled overnight. There are also workshops for routine maintenance and more complicated repair jobs.

On Friday morning I joined local councillor Clarence Barrett and local residents for a visit to the depot, to hear about their plans for the next 50 years.

S Stock Trains and the District Line Upgrade

The new trains are already in operation on the Metropolitan Line, and will be introduced on the District Line in the run up to 2014. The 191 trains will have better CCTV coverage, more standing space and a lower floor to reduce the step up from the platform and make boarding easier. Most importantly they will all be seven cars long, reducing overcrowding. A new signalling system will enable more trains to run, improving the frequency and reliability of the service.

More and bigger trains mean that the depot will have to be enlarged. At Upminster this can be achieved within the existing site, with extra sidings being added on the north side of the site. Work will begin in the summer and should be completed by March 2012.

For the homes backing on to this part of the depot, there will be disturbance whilst the work is taking place and the clearance of an overgrown area will leave them with uninterrupted views of trains and the maintenance shed at the bottom of their gardens. Whilst the residents accept that the project will benefit the whole of London, so it must go ahead, we all want to mitigate the impact and preserve this pleasant middle class neighbourhood.

So the visit focused on ways to preserve some of the more mature trees that have grown up along the boundary, whilst planting new trees which will - in time - grow to fill up any gaps.

Security

Unfortunately the railway are engaged in what could be described as a war with idiots who try to break in and daub graffiti on the trains. Not only does this cost London Underground thousands of pounds every year to clean up, it also places the graffiti morons themselves at risk. Moving trains and live rails are dangerous and tragedies do happen.

So a 2.8m steel fence with narrow mesh that cannot be climbed and a roll of razor wire along the top is now needed along the boundary of the depot. This needs to be set back from any trees and needs to be still higher where sheds and outbuildings in the gardens could be used to climb over. The fence will be a further intrusion on the scene and the best that can be done is to paint it green so that it doesn't stand out too much.

Wildlife

The overgrown area has become a have for wildlife, including nesting birds, squirrels and even a couple of urban foxes. Adders are reputed to live there - I wore strong boots and knee length socks, just in case - and a survey is being carried out to ascertain numbers. An adjacent area will be left overgrown and the animals encouraged to move there before work begins.

This House Believes...

2011-01-20T15:48:00.003Z

Yesterday's Assembly meeting did not conclude when transport questions finished. Often motions are placed on the agenda for debate and this time there were five of them:

Dangerous Dogs

Conservative Steve O'Connell proposed a motion calling for more action to tackle the growing problem of dangerous dogs, particularly legislation outlawing so called 'weapon dogs' in the same way that guns and knives are controlled. The proliferation of unpleasant mastiffs is noticeable across London and Steve's constituency saw a very nasty death with a dog involved recently. This dog, whilst clearly dangerous, was not one of the breeds currently prohibited. The motion was approved unanimously.

GLA Pay Freeze

In accordance with government policy and reflecting the current economic challenges, pay is to be frozen for members and staff. The Green's Darren Johnson proposed exempting the small number of staff on Grade 3 or below from the freeze, again in line with government policy. He was supported by the Liberal Democrats and given that the total cost would be only £50,000 the rest of the Assembly agreed. Nobody wants to disadvantage the poorest employees during these difficult times.

So far, so consensual - but things were about to get more interesting.

Olympic Legacy

Lib Dem, Dee Doocey vacated that chair so that she could propose a motion demanding public sector funding for new developments in the Olympic Park, to encourage a more mixed community. The Conservatives opposed this motion, with Olympic spokesman Andrew Boff explaining that the existing £9.3 billion should be sufficient to lift anywhere off its knees. As a resident of Hackney he wanted the East End to be dynamic and self sufficient, rather than continuing to need public subsidies once the games left town. The motion was approved with support from Greens, Labour and Independent Richard Barnbrook.

Although nobody could say where the money would come from...

New Year Sponsorship

This year the free travel home was provided courtesy of consumer credit firm Wonga.com . There has been a lot of controversy about this sponsorship deal, although the complainers weren't rushing to stump up the money themselves. Labour's Jennette Arnold proposed a motion attacking the mayor and calling for a code of ethics to be applied to advertising and sponsorship deals.

Attacking Boris is par for the course and naturally we opposed them, but the suggested 'code of ethics' is potentially more worrying. For who is to judge what is acceptable? I know that lots of Labour and Green politicians think they are uniquely equipped to provide such guidance - indeed in some cases it's what lights their candle and motivates them to seek election - but do we really want politicians as arbiters of good taste?

I gave my team a free vote - and three members, Gareth Bacon, Victoria Borwick and Brian Coleman, chose to abstain. Conservative James Cleverly used his background in financial services to pick the flawed motion to pieces, but it was approved in the end by the Labour, Green and Lib Dem members.

Tube Strikes

Conservative Dick Tracey tabled an urgent motion condemning ASLEF for their threat to strike on the day of the Royal Wedding. To debate this at such short notice we needed the Assembly's agreement, but this was not forthcoming. Labour, Green and Lib Dem members voted not to accept the motion for debate.

At this point the meeting ended.

Transport Questions

2011-01-19T20:55:00.002Z

This morning Boris and transport commissioner Peter Hendy appeared before the full Assembly to take questions. Each of the groups had one lead question and this time my team went first:

Transparency

We led off by asking what was being done to increase transparency at TfL, an organisation that has historically been more of a closed book than most public authorities. Boris vowed that every invoice over £500 would be published on line by the end of January. He also claimed that TfL dealt with over 2,000 questions and 2,500 pieces of correspondence from Assembly Members every year. With only 25 members this sounds like a lot, but over a year it is only two queries per week and I am sure that my office is responsible for its share. I asked how many of these were reminders because TfL had failed to respond adequately and Mr Hendy undertook to provide a breakdown by subject area.

Peter felt that TfL provided a very good service compared to his time running a private bus operator in Northampton where letters from politicians had not been treated as a priority, indeed had not been responded to at all quite often.

We highlighted the lack of political representation on the board of TfL and suggested that the Mayor appoint some Assembly Members to create greater accountability. He promised to consider this wise advice...

Cycling

Next came the Greens, praising cycle superhighways and the cycle hire scheme, but claiming that Ken should get the credit. Jenny Jones claims to be standing for the mayoralty herself but all her efforts go into boosting the Livingstone campaign - hardly surprising as she was Ken's deputy mayor for a year.

I asked why cycle superhighway number 2, originally intended to run out to Ilford, was now being terminated at the Bow Flyover. Newham Council have objected to running the highway through their borough, thus preventing it reaching Redbridge. Boris promised to review the decision with TfL and committed himself to encouraging cycling in outer London boroughs like Redbridge.

Value For Money

The Labour Group - managing their time effectively for once - used a broad question about value to raise public transport performance issues.

Their first concern was the recent safety scare on Metroline buses, reported in the Evening Standard. Peter Hendy reassured the Assembly that the story was exaggerated and the worrying statistics were the result of over zealous inspections by one individual.

Next Val Shawcross complained about ongoing maintenance work and the delays and line closures on the Underground. Peter Hendy placed a lot of the blame on Gordon Brown's PPP, claiming that the new Victoria Line trains had not been run in properly before they started service, resulting in delays when the doors jammed open in some cases. On the Jubilee Line resignalling work had fallen behind schedule, leading to the current poor service. More bad news was expected on the sub surface network as the tracks would need to be reconfigured to run longer trains. All this work will improve reliability and capacity but the disruption continues to be considerable.

For a bit of light relief we asked Peter about Livingstone's record, and he confirmed that he had advised against a fares freeze before the election. Subsequent large increases were necessary to make up the budget shortfall.

Boris Buses

The Lib Dems were less than enthusiastic about the new buses, which are due to take to London's streets later this year. Green Member Darren Johnson went further, saying that he was pleased the Routemaster had gone, and that he didn't see why the capital needed a special bus design.

Boris promised that we would all welcome the new 'Routemaster for the 21st Century' with its disabled access, clean engine and iconic design. I was pleased to hear that the trend to remove seats to create space for buggies and wheelchairs had stopped - with TfL admitting that most mobility impaired passengers needed seats. Jennette Arnold made a telling point about the existing wheelchair ramps not working, citing one case where 23 buses on one route had failed to provide access. The mayor promised to review the case and ensure the ramps were available in future.

The session was both entertaining and informative, Boris was very confident and sure of himself throughout, with Peter Hendy providing detailed responses when needed. They took performance concerns seriously and promised improvements - within the constraints of operating a complex network in a large metropolis. This was a reassuring session.

Evening Standard Poll

2011-01-18T17:46:00.002Z

It turns out that the prospect of trains without drivers has not left passengers "filled with dread" as one comment on the last thread suggested.

Tonight we have the result of a poll in the Evening Standard. The question was:

Would you be comfortable using automated Tubes with no driver?

The response:

YES 67%

NO 33%

So, approval of the Mayor's comments by more than two to one.

Boris at the Mansion House

2011-01-14T08:47:00.003Z

Last night saw the annual dinner for London Government, hosted by the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House. Boris was the main speaker and he treated the star studded audience to an entertaining and informative progress report. Gone are the days when Ken used to turn up and drone his way through an economics lecture prepared by his staff - Boris appears far more relaxed in this environment.

In amongst the anecdotes and plugs for the City, his comments on London Underground caught my attention:

When the Jubilee works are complete there will be three lines in London, the Jubilee, Victoria and Central which will operate on an automated system and it is a fact - though not a widely known fact - that as we speak most of the Jubilee Line currently operates under automatic train operation, from Stratford to Neasden.

In other words the driving of the train is done by computer rather than manually. Of course there will still need to be someone aboard the train, just as every DLR train is staffed but thanks to the advanced signalling being installed it is also a fact that anyone in this room could in a matter of weeks acquire the qualifications necessary to supervise an underground train and the huge potential implications of that change will be obvious to everyone.

So I say to our colleagues in the trade union leadership that I respect and understand the vital role of unions in a free society to secure the best terms and conditions for their members but I hope they will recognise that the patience of Londoners is not endless and that they should abandon the recent pattern of pointless strikes and work with us to use this settlement to improve the Tube, to modernise the service and the best way to achieve a happy and contented workforce on the Tube is not just to have excellent pay and conditions but above all the satisfaction of providing an ever better service and that is what we are going to achieve with 33 per cent increase in capacity.

Last year my colleague Dick Tracey presented a report which concluded that London could introduce driverless trains in much the same way that other cities around the world have. The Mayor's team were not exactly supportive of the idea, but we plugged away, seeking to persuade them. Far more effective than our efforts has been the behaviour of the Tube unions. TfL know what to expect from the RMT under Bob Crow and prepared to grit their teeth and run the best service possible in difficult circumstances, but I think it was ASLEF's Boxing Day strike and their threat to disrupt the Royal Wedding that finally convinced Boris to look again at the proposals. Londoners are sick of the disruption and they will welcome the Mayor's words.

Releafing Redbridge

2011-01-12T13:21:00.002Z

This morning I was with Boris, planting trees in the Roding Valley. We were welcomed by the Mayor of Redbridge, deputy leader Cllr Ian Bond (lib dem), and around a hundred volunteers as well as assorted journalists.

RE:LEAF London is the Mayor's new campaign which aims to encourage businesses and individuals to plant more trees across the capital, 'bringing the village to the city', as Boris puts it. This week 10,000 new trees are being planted in East London, many by volunteers from News International.

Experts from Trees For Cities made sure we were safely kitted out with gloves - wouldn't want to get a splinter or a nasty prick - before issuing spades and demonstrating how to plant a sapling. For apartment dwellers like myself this was a new experience but Boris went for it like an experienced pro.

I paused for breath to be photographed with local Conservative councillors Paul Canal and Robin Turbefield, behind the Trees for Cities banner.

The new trees will greatly enhance this part of the borough and will help to soak up ground water in an area that suffered badly from flooding just a few years ago.

Budget Latest

2011-01-11T19:54:00.002Z

This morning Boris gave evidence to the budget committee in a follow up from last weeks excellent session. Like Simon Milton he began by pointing out that for once, under the new government, London had received a better settlement than many other parts of the country. Against a background of cross the board reductions London had shouldered a 16% cut whereas the national average was 17%. The Mayor also expected further announcements in the coming days which would herald more money from government.

As usual, I pressed him to freeze the council tax precept not just this year, but in 2012/13 as well, leaving a 0% increase over his full term of office. Like Simon Milton, Boris refused to be drawn but he did point out that the freeze so far equated overall to a 6% cut, a welcome contrast to his predecessor who raised the precept by 153% during his term of office!

The Banks

As demonstrated on the last thread, whilst irrelevant to the detailed budget process, The Banks are very important to The Left, who try to use them as cover for their own fiscal irresponsibility. Len Duval suggested the Boris was wrong to defend bankers who could have been taxed more to fund London's budget. Leaving aside the very real possibility that London wouldn't even have seen a lot of the money, Boris emphasised the importance of the financial sector to the capital. Until an alternative source of employment and revenue is created, he is keen to protect what we do have.

Transport

Boris is particularly proud that tough lobbying has secured all the money needed for Crossrail, the Tube upgrades, and to protect concessionary fares including the vital 24hr Freedom Pass. The fare increases are unpopular but he reminded us that fares had risen by more than inflation under the previous Mayor too. He stated that the fares package would eliminate the black hole left in TfL's budget by Livingstone's decision to delay his fares package until after the election. The abolition of the zone 2-6 travelcard had been controversial but only 6,000 journeys - of a total 3.5 million - were made using these cards and in most cases Oyster pay as you go would provide a cost effective alternative.

I asked if upgrades to the main line stations in Havering and Redbridge were included in the Crossrail budget. Making the stations safer and more accessible is essential, but Boris pointed out that Network Rail were funding this part of the project. It is to be hoped that they won't be penny pinching here.

And John Biggs revealed that, despite living close to the centre of town, he hadn't ridden a bike in years. What a missed opportunity - we could all have been riding 'Biggs Bikes'...

Policing

The Mayor was pleased that crime continued to fall, despite the recession, and particularly on public transport. He was committed to driving down crime even further and to increasing police visibility on the beat. The recruitment freeze has led to a fall in police numbers but even so, Boris was confident that there would still be between 32 and 33 thousand fully warranted officers in the force in 2012 - more than the number he inherited from Ken. Again, some further announcements - he referred to them as 'sleek rabbits out of hats' - would be made during the budget process, and he intended also to protect PCSO numbers.

Asked about police overtime, the Mayor stated that the unpredictability of demonstrations and other disorder made it difficult to commit to a lower figure. Darren Johnson reported that only 7% of overtime was incurred policing public order situations, so there should be other ways it can be controlled. Boris promised to investigate further. I told the Mayor that abstraction of police officers from outer London to cover these events should be done as sparingly as possible.

Next Stages

The budget - and associated sleek rabbits - will now go on to be debated by the Assembly in February. A two thirds majority is needed to amend the proposals so changes will need to command cross party support. The next budget committee meeting takes place on 3rd March.

Budget Scrutiny

2011-01-05T13:36:00.003Z

Today the budget committee took evidence from all the functional bodies and deputy mayor, Sir Simon Milton, in preparation for the impending budget settlement. This year the budget is set against the backdrop of essential cuts introduced by the government to recover the parlous financial situation left by the outgoing Labour government. For once, London fared better than many other parts of the country, having suffered the worst settlement for three successive years under the previous administration.

Overall Picture

Sir Simon confirmed that the council tax precept would be frozen once again, and spoke of his aspiration to achieve a freeze again in 2012/13.

For this year LFEPA had achieved particularly good savings enabling the transfer of £20 million from their budget to provide extra cash for the MPA where government grant had been less generous.

£23 million from government - council tax freeze specific grant - will be used to preserve some of the LDA's functions following abolition. Of this, £14 million will be supporting a new body - Promote London - which brings together the work of three existing bodies - Visit London, Think London and Study London. Together with economies of scale, Promote London will also seek private sponsorship to fund much of its work.

The London Skills and Employment Board is losing its powers to government and is unlikely to continue in such a vacuum.

Metropolitan Police Authority

The MPA is seeking to make further savings in what Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse described as 'inanimate objects', whilst preserving its front line capacity.

By March 2011 they expect that 1,181 officers will have left the police service but these losses will be offset by deploying 550 officers currently in administrative roles - Operation Herald - and increased single patrolling. In London 800 officers are now on single patrol every day and there must be scope to continue to roll out this practice in all but the most challenging urban environments. Safer Neighbourhood Teams would be preserved although the supervision structure was being reviewed.

The disposal of properties would continue, particularly of old police stations which were no longer suitable for purpose. More services would be delivered from town centre and shopping parade locations, providing a more welcoming environment for victims and witnesses, whilst basing officers in the most populated areas.

Kit declared that he was more concerned by the cuts being implemented by local authorities. He stressed the importance of effective child protection and community safety services without which the police will struggle.

Deputy Commissioner Tim Godwin reassured the committee that the Metropolitan Police would be able to handle demonstrations and consequent public disorder, if necessary by abstracting officers from boroughs to police these events.

London Fire And Emergency Planning Authority

The committee congratulated Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson on his recognition in the New Year Honours List - he has been made a CBE. He assured us that whilst 121 administrative posts would be cut, there would be no cut in front line services.

The London Fire Brigade had received a good grant settlement, doing better than many rural brigades - Warwickshire was facing the closure of eight fire stations. Chairman Brian Coleman put this down to assiduous lobbying of government by himself and senior officers, and also to the previous experience of Fire Minister Bob Neill as chairman of the old LFCDA. It is good to have a minister who actually understands the needs of the capital.

Transport For London

Commissioner Peter Hendy was the only witness to turn up without other officers to support him. Peter is usually well briefed and doesn't need people whispering answers to him.

TfL's four year grant settlement fell short of previous expectations, leaving a funding gap of £2.17 billion, but Peter was confident that this could be bridged. Firstly there would be further efficiency savings, including 'Project Horizon', a wholesale restructuring of the organisation to strip out inefficiencies and over management - this was expected to achieve savings of up to 20% of the admin budget.

Peter also expected to over achieve on income from fares, following the latest increases. Numbers using the Tube particularly have boomed as the London economy recovers, to the point that once again there is no effective peak hour on London Underground. Peter was not being drawn on the level of this surplus, only saying that he expected it to reach several hundreds of millions.

TfL staff were awarded a 4.2% pay increase in 2010/11 as part of a package designed to cover two to three years. Peter was keen to honour the deal - notwithstanding the disagreement with ASLEF which caused the strike on Boxing Day - but after this period he could not rule out a pay freeze, already experienced by many elsewhere in the public sector.

Round Up

All in all this was an informative meeting which covered a good deal of ground. The committee reconvenes on Tuesday when we will be questioning the Mayor about his political priorities.

New Year in London

2011-01-01T17:58:00.002Z

This morning I decided to go into town to watch the New Year Parade. The journey proved to be more epic than usual, with the main line terminating at Seven Kings, so it was the 86 bus to Stratford, then the Jubilee Line to Westminster.

This year the parade started in Piccadilly, and progressed via Trafalgar Square and Whitehall to its conclusion in the shadow of Big Ben. There were the usual American marching bands and smiling cheerleaders - a welcome sign of the special relationship - and floating inflatable figures were back, by public demand. London boroughs provided floats and I managed to get a snap of the Havering entry, as well as catching the Mayor of Redbridge leaning from the top deck of a red bus. The biggest cheer was reserved for standard bearers from the Royal British Legion.

A wonderful way to start 2011, it got me thinking of the challenges that lie ahead. This is the year when David Cameron promises most of the 'heavy lifting' will be done, and no doubt the capital will see more protests and strikes in reaction to essential measures to bring the national debt back under control. Continuing work on London Underground will disrupt services, and we all hope for a more reliable network when the engineers move on. The referendum on AV will prove a political headache for both sides I suspect - I will be voting No.

But there will be high points too. In 2011 London will be leading the country out of recession, buoyed in the short term by the excitement of a Royal Wedding, and looking forward to the 2012 Olympics, as the huge site in the Lea Valley nears completion. More trees will be planted around town, the popular bike hire scheme will be extended and the final bendy bus will meander off to the dustbin of history. There is much to look forward too...

Reselection Meeting

2010-12-04T11:26:00.002Z

Last night forty people braved the snow and ice to attend my reselection meeting in Romford.

It began with a fifteen minute report back in which I covered my work in the last two years. Highlights included the opening of the new fire station at Gallows Corner - the first new fire station to be built in London for 20 years. I also talked about the success of Fairlop Waters in the Mayor's 'Trees for London' public vote, and the visit from William Torbitt primary school, which saw the children deliver 300 votes to City Hall.

On a policy note, I highlighted our continuing opposition to the proposals for an illegal immigrant amnesty, and our lobbying for legislation to control the turbulent industrial relations on the Tube. I talked about the changes to the London Plan, particularly the move away from large blocks of tiny flats, and the decision to remove arbitrary targets for travellers pitches in each borough.

Then we had thirty minutes of questions from an interested and engaged audience. Business people and charity groups wanted the costly low emission zone timetable delayed again. There were requests for Boris to do yet more to help cyclists, and local councillors demanded greater freedom from TfL dictat. We discussed the phasing out of bendy buses and there was much relief to hear that the infamous number 25 would be 'debendified' over the summer of 2011, and all would be gone by the election.

I left the room during the vote, which was a secret ballot. The numbers were not revealed but I'm told that I was reselected by an overwhelming majority. That means that almost all of the group have successfully completed the reselection process and soon we will be moving on to choosing and ranking the top up list. Only 18 months to the election...

Mayor's Question Time - November Fireworks

2010-11-18T10:32:00.004Z

A solid Question Time yesterday with Boris enjoying his usual friendly reception from a packed public gallery. Present in the front row - shades of El Cid once again - was Ken Livingstone, along with his long time ally Simon Fletcher. Ken was wearing a darker suit than usual, always a sign that he wants to be taken seriously, and Boris responded by swerving to the left as he faced robust questions from all sides - including the Conservative Group.

Taxation

Labour members are enjoying an extended break from all that tedious 'New' stuff that won them power three times in a row. They started by asking what was most harmful to London - tax evasion or benefit fraud. Personally I find both types of law breaking unacceptable but it was clear where Labour's sympathies lie.

It took Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes to point out that the real threat to London's economy was presented by the higher taxes favoured by the previous government and the previous mayor. I piled in on the back of this, asking Boris to freeze the council tax precept for the coming year. He was pretty coy in his response, pointing out that I ask that question every year, and he refuses to commit himself ahead of time, every year. He might have added that has also frozen the precept every year too, but this was left unsaid - an encouraging implication rather than a commitment.

Transport For London

Caroline Pidgeon kicked off a wide ranging debate about safety on the Tube and TfL's management style. Boris pointed out that London Underground was safer than ever with only one accidental fatality every two years, a much better record than even ten years ago. Recent performance has been poor, calling LU's project management into question, but passengers should not be needlessly alarmed about the safety of the network.

I asked for a change of culture at TfL with an end to the secrecy and opaque committee structure. Boris seemed to think things were fine, but I would like to see TfL's transparency conform to the standards we rightly expect of local authorities and the other GLA functional bodies. This is work in progress but I have hopes that the government will address these concerns in their impending legislative programme.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Boris is keen on promoting a London wide LEP (although the word 'local' seems inappropriate for such a body). Members lined up to make the case for LEPs based on better defined and smaller areas, which the mayor has so far refused to support.

I feel that a Thames Gateway LEP might be one way of holding together the best parts of the work done in East London and the Essex fringe, an area that still needs inward investment. Dick Tracey made a strong case for Nine Elms, and Steve O'Connell introduced us to the 'coast to coast' partnership which has seen Croydon working with neighbouring authorities outside London. This outward looking approach may prove to be the way forward for the 'doughnut boroughs' providing greater synergy than a rather clumsy London wide partnership promises.

Housing Benefit

The debate about the proposed housing benefit cap rumbled on, with Boris coming close to repeating his social cleansing remarks. Tony Arbour waded in on the side of the deserving workers who contributed to the capital's economy as opposed to the recipients of benefits who contributed less - but the argument is more nuanced than that.

Calls to preserve 'mixed communities' are about twenty years too late, because the middle classes and professionals were driven from whole areas of Central London by rising property prices long ago. Streets where millionaires and the very poorest live side by side are no more 'mixed communities' than Downton Abbey. Using the benefit system to preserve this state of affairs represents very poor value for money and it is perverse to expect taxpayers to fund accommodation that they could not afford for themselves. The availability of benefit funded tenants also fuels the market, driving rents higher, beyond the means of most people.

Of course there need to be transitional arrangements to ease the pain, but the plan to cap housing benefit is absolutely right. It should have been done years ago.

Questions at Camden

2010-11-03T18:42:00.003Z

Tuesday night saw the latest Peoples' Question Time at the rather impressive Camden Centre at Kings Cross. A unique set of circumstances saw controversial local member Brian Coleman chairing a meeting in an inner city borough in the midst of bitter Tube and Fire Brigade strikes. Conflict seemed likely and after the meeting at Brixton, where items were thrown at the platform, security was tight.

There was also a strong turnout from Assembly Members, with only Labour's Nicky Gavron giving her apologies. Protesters with banners and vuvuzelas gathered noisily outside and former BNP Member Richard Barnbrook had a nasty encounter with left wing extremists, fortunately broken up by police before anyone got hurt.

Inside, the hall was far from full but people had travelled from across London, defying the Tube strike which came into effect during the evening. I spotted guests from Brent, Barnet, Croydon, Lewisham and Waltham Forest, and no doubt there were plenty more.

We opened with speeches from the Mayor - denouncing the strike - and Chair, Dee Doocey, which were politely applauded. Then we were into the questions.

Policing

A difficult subject at previous meetings, there was less anger in the debate this time. People voiced their worries over potential cuts in police numbers and Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse was forced to give reassurances that popular neighbourhood teams would be retained. There were questions about the use of 'stop and search' powers and Boris explained that he understood the sensitivities in the capital, and that he would ensure that such measures would be applied with care and courtesy. However, in two years stop and search had recovered over 10,000 knives from young people, no doubt saving lives and contributing to the decline in the murder rate. Some inconvenience was a price worth paying for saving lives.

Transport

This section provoked a wide and passionate debate. RMT official Steve Headley loudly presented his case from the floor, but the applause for his rhetoric was mixed. Other speakers were angered by the repeated strikes. One man said that the strikes were no problem compared to weekend engineering works which were far more effective when it came to shutting the network down - at least in Brent.

A woman from the West end accused Boris of reneging on his promise to abolish the congestion charge Western Extension, whilst another man complained that its abolition would increase pollution. Boris stated clearly that the zone would be shut down on 24 December - a welcome and overdue Christmas present for Londoners.

An older man thanked Boris for protecting the Freedom Pass but another person claimed that it was going to be means tested. The Mayor confirmed that there was no truth to this rumour.

John Biggs was tired of the upbeat atmosphere and he interjected, accusing Boris of achieving little and breaking promises. It was a discordant little contribution which attracted the first booing of the night.

Environment

On to environment and other stuff like housing and planning. Questions covered air pollution, overcrowding and controversial planning decisions.

We had all prepared to discuss the housing benefit cap, but it took Labour AM Navin Shah to raise it and the audience were more intrigued by the Mayor's spat with David Cameron and what that revealed about their relationship. One person leapt to his feet to ask if Boris would be the next Prime Minister, after Cameron's first term. The Mayor made a clear denial but there was some audience support for the idea of PM Boris.

A Labour councillor raised the 'superlab' research centre planned for Kings Cross. The Mayor's planning responsibilities meant he was not allowed to comment but Members were able to air their views. Brian Coleman was against, claiming that the proposal was out of character for the area and more housing was what was really needed. Jennette Arnold was in favour - a sticky wicket with the local protesters - but she raised the debate to talk about the medical advances that the laboratory would provide, and at the end of a passionate speech she received widespread applause.

Olympics and Any Other Business

The people of Camden were not convinced that 2012 would provide them with any benefit, a view which is widely held outside the immediate Olympic area. But the games won't be cancelled so an upbeat response is really the only option and Boris does this well. I had my moment of fame - you usually only get one contribution at these meetings - talking about Olympic transport plans which are comprehensive for public transport (as long as strikes can be avoided) but not so good for road travel with large swathes of lanes cordoned off for 'The Olympic Family'.

There was no mention of the Fire Strike and the mood was calm throughout the evening, with nobody getting thrown out, unlike previous meetings. There was the traditional rush to the platform by people wanting to meet Boris as the meeting ended.

Meanwhile someone approached me to ask who the 'MC' was, because he had handled the meeting so well. Brian Coleman will be pleased with the way this went and I suspect that his approval rating from the audience will be quite high when the end of meeting survey is broken down. The best score so far was achieved by James Cleverly in Bromley (88%) with Navin Shah getting the wooden spoon (36%) from the Harrow audience.

And despite the difficulties of mid term, government cuts and industrial strife, Boris still has 'what it takes' to win. Next year Question Time will be coming to Havering, providing an interesting 'doughnut test' in the final months before the 2012 election.

Hainault War Memorial

2010-10-31T16:51:00.002Z

This afternoon I attended the dedication of a new war memorial in Hainault. The memorial is situated in Manford Way, opposite the shops. Also there were Lee Scott MP, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Redbridge, the leader of the council and a number of local councillors.

For long serving Hainault Cllr Ted Griffin, this was a particularly proud moment because he has been campaigning for a memorial for several years. Following the dedication, there were two minutes of silence and wreaths were laid. The rain did not dampen spirits and the event attracted quite a large crowd.