Public Health

The Mayor does not have direct control over health in London, so it is an area where influence is important. It is vital that all Londoners have access to good health care. London has several Centres of Excellence in healthcare and these must continue to be developed. Planning and environmental policies can help encourage local health facilities and this is where the Mayor can use his influence to the benefit of Londoners.

There are several areas of immense poverty in London and they suffer in terms of equality of healthcare, 44% of children live in households where income is half the national average.

London has the highest rate of TB in the country, and there are an estimated 60,000 drug dependent adults in London.

Drug use results in crime, often violent crime, and so it is very important that the Mayor works with local authorities and the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to improve facilities for Londoners.

Culture, Media and Sport

A complex network of bodies, public, commercial and voluntary look after the cultural and sporting activities in London. The Mayor and Assembly must continue to encourage development of these sectors and help maximise their contribution to economic growth. This is one of the most exciting areas of the Mayor’s responsibilities. London is such a diverse and cosmopolitan city that there are a fabulous range of alternative and mainstream entertainment throughout the year.

30 million visitors a year come to London - with over 200 arts events every day, 200 museums and galleries, including 11 national museums makes London a truly vibrant city. All these contribute to the economic strength and attraction of London.

With the Olympics in 2012 this will become an increasing important area for the Mayor and the assembly.

In order to continue to encourage this revenue we must have first class facilities, and a clean and graffiti free city. We must feel proud of our heritage and environment. As you travel around London you need to feel safe and you need to see a city you can be proud of – no graffiti, and tidy and litter free streets. Streetscapes designed to be attractive and reduce crime. Well lit passages and access routes, local councils working with residents to improve our quality and enjoyment of London.

Fire and Emergency

The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), is directly accountable to the Mayor. There are 17 members of the LFEPA, nine from the London Assembly and eight nominated by the London boroughs via the Association of London Government. These members were appointed on 1 June 2000.

What does the LFEPA do?

Fire, the LFEPA:

• sets the strategy for the provision of fire services
  
• ensures the fire brigade can meet all normal requirements efficiently
  
• ensures members of the fire brigade are properly trained and equipped
  
• ensures effective arrangements are in place to receive fire calls and deal with them promptly
  
• ensures arrangements for advice and guidance on fire prevention are made
  

For emergency planning, the LFEPA holds and fulfils many responsibilities, including assisting the boroughs plans for emergencies, and preparation and plans for any major incident in London. The London Assembly recently undertook an in depth analysis of how London’s services responded to the June 2005 terror attacks and how our services could be improved.

Metropolitan Police

Todays news that the Police have "No confidence' in police chief is not good news for Londoners.

London's most senior policeman has come under fresh pressure after the chairman of a group representing 24,000 officers said they had no confidence in him.
Peter Smyth, of the Metropolitan Police Constables Board, said a series of "embarrassing gaffes" by Commissioner Sir Ian Blair had undermined the force.
His comments were made at a Police Federation annual conference, attended by new police minister Liam Byrne.

Crime and the fear of crime is Londoners first concern. In London there are now over 30,000 policemen, in New York with a similar size population there are 41,000 policemen. I support the initiative to have more police on the beat and to have visible Police Community Support Officers. However PCSO have to be able to patrol alone – so that they can engage in the community they are looking after. If the PCSOs walk down the street in pairs, then you talk to one another, rather than getting to know the local residents and shop keepers. Only by building up the numbers of regular beat officers who can also have the opportunity of living locally will we tackle the crime figures. - Have you met the PCSO in your area yet - do you feel safer?

Londoners need an efficient police force that enables them to go about their daily lives safely. Streets should be safe and residents should be able to come and go safely. In the longer term this would enable more children to walk to school and thus continue to reduce the amount of traffic and pollution.

There must be an effective partnership and communication between the London Boroughs, community groups and the Metropolitan Police Authority.

The powers of the police will need to be strengthened and supported with video surveillance and a strong attitude to street crime, personal assault and burglary.

Environment

Environmental issues are not just about green house gasses and the Kyoto agreement. The aim here is to improve air quality and gradually bring about an improvement in the quality of life for Londoners; this includes strategies for air quality, waste management and encouraging energy efficiency. Continuing to reduce vehicle emissions is vital, and encouraging commercial vehicles to look at new electric delivery vans – these would turn London into a quieter city overnight. Some Councils have a policy of positive discrimination towards low pollution vehicles and I favour this approach over more taxation.

This is also about sensible planning policies - building for local communities, so that people have access to local shops, local schools and local employment, to reduce the need for travel.

Encouraging traffic to keep moving, so that you reduce the emissions from stationery traffic is important, so I would not keep increasing the size of roundabouts and other obstructions which delay traffic.

Planning

Policies - Planning
The Mayor’s London Plan has seen significant changes in planning issues. Ken is taking a far greater involvement in decisions that used to be taken locally. Local Councils should make the decisions on the policies within their borough to suit their electorate.

I believe in encouraging urban re-generation and renewal, with development of the many areas within Greater London that have fallen into decay to provide housing, shops, schools and local facilities for local communities. Preserving the unique character of some of London’s villages and encouraging local facilities, post offices, petrol stations, shops. Local policies are about finding the right solutions locally, not building on greenfield sites.

London has pockets of extreme poverty and areas of prosperity. We must work to improve the services and infrastructure in the disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and encourage key worker housing.

There is a tremendous amount of construction planned for the Olympics and we must ensure that this has a long term use. There are significant concerns about water usage in the driest part of the Country, and much of the area where Ken is building for the Olympics is also under threat from flooding from the Thames.

Transport

This is a vital issue to all Londoners, over 2.5 million people use London Underground and 5 million use the buses every day.

The priorities here are to improve the transport system so people want to use the underground and bus network rather than use their car. 37% of Londoners do not have access to a car, so we must give them the freedom to travel.

I do not believe we should be taxing those who need to use their car in London. This is just a further tax on their earnings.

I approve of the extension of the Oyster Card and want to ensure that means more staff being visible on stations. Londoners deserve to feel safe and that is the greatest power that the Mayor has.

London has increasingly become a 24 hour city and shift workers should be able to use public transport at all times. Agreement needs to be reached to extend the hours of public transport.

What would you do if you were Mayor for London?

If you were to be elected Mayor for London, what would be your aspirations and priorities?