Zack Polanski: Thank you for your answer to my question 2022/2891 on tree planting in London. There is now a severe drought, and councils are asking residents to water new trees to avoid losing them. Could you provide figures on the number of trees lost to drought in GLA-supported tree planting in London by year since 2016, broken down by borough? Could you provide this data in table format?
Zack Polanski: Thank you for your answer to my question 2022/2895, in which you mentioned that a new multi-agency group is being established to ensure improvements are made to surface water management. What budget will this group have, how much will be funded by the GLA, and what investment programme will it have to solve surface water flooding?
Zack Polanski: There is a license for fracking (PEDL 245) that covers large parts of Sutton, Croydon and Bromley. Now that the Government has removed the ban on fracking, what actions are you taking to protect these areas from this dangerous practice?
Zack Polanski: Londoners have complained about homes overheating during the heatwaves this summer. What steps are you taking to estimate and prepare for the scale of this problem, before a future heatwave hits?
Zack Polanski: What steps are you taking to ensure London has the resilience and preparedness for a further wave of coronavirus?
Zack Polanski: Your Adult Education Budget (AEB) has a 20 per cent management fee cap on subcontracting. Are you concerned that this cap will be treated more like a minimum, leading to higher management fees and less value for money for Londoners?
Zack Polanski: Are you preparing for the possible impact on London of a nuclear event in Europe, which could cause at the very least similar issues as Chernobyl did in 1986?
Zack Polanski: What training do first responders in London undertake to prepare for a possible ‘chain of events’ scenario where multiple climate and other events combine to create a worse disaster?
Zack Polanski: Some advice for civil preparedness to future climate and other disasters involves advising people to have a ‘grab bag’ handy. What do you consider to be the right things for a Londoner to have in such a bag?
Zack Polanski: On 9 August 2019 – during a large power cut to the National Grid that caused disruption to Thameslink and London Underground – 239,861 London customers were disconnected from the electricity grid to reduce demand by 174MW. What steps have you taken since then to consider the role of major energy users like Transport for London (TfL) during such scenarios in future, and how would any...
Zack Polanski: Will you sign the Charter for Parks, to protect and invest in London’s public green spaces for the benefit of the city’s nature and people?
Zack Polanski: What work have you undertaken to reduce Londoners’ exposure to noise pollution?
Zack Polanski: What mitigating impact do you expect from the power purchase agreement tender that was issued in June 2022 against the increase in the cost of energy to the GLA group of organisations?
Zack Polanski: Could you provide figures on GLA-supported tree planting in London by year since 2016, including the number of trees planted, broken down by borough?
Zack Polanski: The operator of the Beddington waste incinerator is proposing to use diesel to burn waste to further increase the volumes burned there. Given the impact on Londoners’ health from diesel-fuelled vehicles, do you agree that it is unacceptable to have diesel used to burn waste?
Zack Polanski: Does London have enough resilience and preparedness to stop the loss of life and property to fires, floods and other extreme climate events during the climate emergency?
Zack Polanski: London this summer saw wildfires on an unprecedented scale, including the loss of several homes in Wennington. What lessons have you learned from these fires, and what actions are you now taking to reduce the risk of wildfires to Londoners and their homes and businesses?
Zack Polanski: Given that Londoners spend more on vaping than residents in any other city in the country, the incorrect disposal of e-cigarettes is potentially contributing an additional burden of electrical waste. What are you doing to address this issue?
Zack Polanski: The independent London Flood Review has now been completed and published (https://londonfloodreview.co.uk/). What response do you have to the review, and what actions are you taking and calling on others to take?
Zack Polanski: London this summer saw wildfires on an unprecedented scale and could have seen a damaging chain of events if either the 40 degree heat had lasted longer or if it had immediately been followed by heavy rain. Given that London is now seeing dangers that may not have been expected at this stage of climate change, what review of climate risks to London are you undertaking?