Peter Fortune: Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have learned from the potential misstep of the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), and I promise to gaze at you throughout my entire speech. A maiden speech is, by tradition and design, quite light-hearted, and that is how I have fashioned mine, but I want the House to be in no doubt that this debate is on a very serious issue. I...
Peter Fortune: Can you provide the average pay bands for London Underground ticket office staff?
Peter Fortune: Answering solely on the financial impact of the proposed ULEZ expansion and not on air quality, and understanding you are seeking external funding to support a scrappage scheme you intend to implement, what financial support does City Hall, under your direction, propose to help vulnerable groups such as the disabled, charities, small businesses, many key workers and the elderly?
Peter Fortune: Thank you very much for that answer and thank you for sticking to the financial side of it as well. That is appreciated. We are getting to a head now with the consultation around the expanded ULEZ and it is causing a lot of concern in outer London. It really is, especially for those people, as Assembly Member Bokhari was talking about earlier, who are digitally excluded and so they have not...
Peter Fortune: I get that. I guess what people would be concerned about is the idea of the tide going out so that there is the largest that is feasible, as you say, to put in but it is not enough to cover some of those people who are really going to need the support.
Peter Fortune: We touched on the consultation. Do you have any idea what the consultation response rate is at the moment? What is it looking like?
Peter Fortune: Yes, 29 July [2022] it closes. One of the things that I would be interested in looking at is how we audit those responses as well and wherever those responses come from. Can we break out where they have come from across the country?
Peter Fortune: The technical point is interesting because we had the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of TfL in last week, who talked about the significant recruitment process going on in terms of getting technicians in to look at road user charging. Are you aware of that?
Peter Fortune: Yes, sorry, you are right. Patrick [Doig].
Peter Fortune: It does make sense to look at it. It makes sense to look at it on a national level because there are taxation elements that go with it.
Peter Fortune: Again, just to put in, everybody is moving in the same direction, which is to get the cleanest air possible. What is the process? What is the vehicle, if you will excuse the pun, that you use to do that? When you look at some of the research papers or where road user charging has been rolled out elsewhere, you will see that you get to a tax-neutral position. For example, if you had a road...
Peter Fortune: That is what I meant by neutral.
Peter Fortune: I am really sorry. I have overrun my time. Thank you.
Peter Fortune: For each police station and office in Bromley, please can you provide the following: •Location – including ward •If it’s open to the public •If it’s in use •Ownership status, e.g. owned, rented, PFI etc •Value if owned, rent amount or PFI amount • Future plans
Peter Fortune: For each police station and office in Bexley, please can you provide the following: • Location – including ward •If it’s open to the public •If it’s in use •Ownership status, e.g. owned, rented, PFI etc •Value if owned, rent amount or PFI amount • Future plans
Peter Fortune: Recognising that you believe the expansion of the ULEZ – and, in the future, road user charging - will benefit Londoners due to improving air quality, how will you ensure that the financial impact of these schemes does not hit the poorest the hardest?
Peter Fortune: Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. I phrased the question very carefully and so, for the benefit of the tape, I recognise that there are the air quality improvements that you are driving for, but the question was specifically about the financial impact. I did word that in the question. Just so you know, I spoke with TfL on Monday, and they are going to come back with some modelling about the...
Peter Fortune: I will advocate for my residents wherever that needs to happen. Around those financial impacts, residents have been in touch with me. This is a really big issue of concern for them as it was when there was the extension to the North and South Circulars that we talked about. They are really worried about how it is going to impact them visiting friends and family and getting to work. Small...
Peter Fortune: Just because we are going into the polemic here, the reason I asked about that ‑‑
Peter Fortune: No, it is not. Which half of London? Camden has 34% car ownership ‑‑
