Andrew Dismore

More then 80 Fire Stations are at risk of closure according to the Chair of the London Fire Authority, James Cleverly. When speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC this Wednesday, the Fire Chair said he could only confirm that 28 out of London’s 112 fire stations ‘will definitely not close’.

The London Fire Brigade is facing steep cuts due to the government cutting the fire budget by 25% – this is even deeper than the 20% cut to the police’s budget. This year, its budget has been cut by £29.5million and by a further £35.3million next year, in total £65million. This is biggest shake-up to the London Fire Brigade since it was created 146 years ago.

Labour’s City Hall Fire spokesperson, Navin Shah said:
“We have repeatedly asked for a list of stations that are at risk of closure and have been repeatedly told that no such list exists. It obviously does and Londoners should know about and have the chance to make their views heard. For the Fire Authority chair to come out and say that any number of these 84 stations are at risk of closure is unbelievable. When will Mr Cleverly and the Mayor be upfront with Londoners and tell them exactly which stations are under threat of closure?

“We understand that savings have to be made, but the level of cuts forced on the London Fire Brigade by the Mayor and government are truly reckless. They are cutting too far, too fast. They are hitting front-line services and putting public safety at risk. The mayor needs to come clean on fire brigade cuts and tell Londoners what he is planning to close.”

Notes
1. Navin Shah is the Labour London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow. He is also Labour’s lead member on the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.

2. The list of all London fire stations and the “safe stations” is below: