Andrew Dismore

Speaking at the London Assembly plenary meeting, I demanded the return of 13 fire engines to fire stations, currently held off the stations,  with the return being  blocked by Mayor Boris Johnson.

The Mayor has issued a direction to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) telling  members not redeploy 13 fire appliances currently being used to support the contingency arrangements in the event of industrial action. He wants  the Fire Brigade budget options for 2016/17 to include their permanent removal as an option.

This is despite an agreement with the FBU that meets the Fire Commissioner’s conditions to guarantee contingency fire cover in the event of a future strike as part of the long-running pensions’ dispute.

For well over a year, Labour Fire Authority members, including myself , have been calling for the return of the 13 appliances . Last  November the Conservatives said  that the 13 appliances should be permanently removed to help address the 2016/17 budget shortfall. However , as chair of the  Authority Resources Committee, I am confident that   the work currently  underway will meet  the funding gap without such front line cuts.

There is no financial benefit to keeping the appliances ‘off the run’. It reduces firefighting capacity in the capital, and while not all areas affected have seen significant rises overall in attendance times since the last round of cuts, many  areas have , for example  Belsize Park, after the closure of the fire station there.

The Mayor said that there would be no more front line cuts in the Fire Brigade, after his last round of mass closures of Fire Stations and removal of fire engines, but he is going back on his word.

 

Assembly motion as passed:

This Assembly notes Mayoral Direction 1516 – LFEPA 2016-17 Budget Options – instructing the Authority to ‘not redeploy’ thirteen fire engines, which are used to support the contingency arrangements during periods of industrial action.

This Assembly is deeply concerned that, despite repeated calls at LFEPA for the thirteen appliances to be returned, the Mayor has proceeded with this combative course of action; especially at the point at which LFB and the FBU were close to reaching an agreement on the terms of their return.

 

Furthermore, this Assembly regrets that the Mayor appears intent on the permanent removal of the 13 appliances, despite the fact that alternative budget options have not yet been formally considered by LFEPA, and while considerable work is being undertaken by officers and board members on finding alternatives to additional frontline cuts to meet the Mayor’s £11m reduction in the 2016/17 fire service budget.

 

This Assembly regards the Mayor’s Direction as unnecessary, and believes that it demonstrates that the Mayor is not committed to protecting frontline emergency services in the capital. Furthermore, the Assembly believes that the premise upon which the decision appears to have been made is not sufficiently strong to demonstrate that the safety of Londoners will not be jeopardised by his Decision; especially were that Decision the first step towards permanent removal of the thirteen appliances.

 

This Assembly calls on the Mayor to withdraw MD 1516 and to allow the re-introduction of the 13 appliances to London’s streets immediately, returning fire cover to the levels committed to within the fifth London Safety Plan (LSP5).