MQ answers LFB June – July 2020
Visits to buildings with stay put suspended – June
Question No: 2020/1989
Andrew Dismore
How many buildings with Stay Put suspended is each London Fire Brigade station responsible for visiting?
Answer for Visits to buildings with stay put suspended – June
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Visits to buildings with stay put suspended – June
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
As of 11 June 2020, the number of high-rise buildings per fire station ground with a temporary simultaneous evacuation strategy in place is as follows:
| Borough | Number of premises per Borough | Station Ground | Number of premises per Station Ground |
| Barking and Dagenham | 7 | Barking | 6 |
| Dagenham | 1 | ||
| Barnet | 3 | Mill Hill | 3 |
| Brent | 12 | Park Royal | 3 |
| Wembley | 9 | ||
| Bexley | 1 | Erith | 1 |
| Bromley | 1 | Bromley | 1 |
| Camden | 3 | Euston | 2 |
| Kentish Town | 1 | ||
| Croydon | 10 | Norbury | 4 |
| Croydon | 6 | ||
| Ealing | 5 | Southall | 1 |
| Ealing | 2 | ||
| Acton | 1 | ||
| Northolt | 1 | ||
| Hammersmith &Fulham | 2 | Fulham | 2 |
| Greenwich | 27 | Greenwich | 11 |
| Plumstead | 9 | ||
| East Greenwich | 7 | ||
| Hackney | 42 | Shoreditch | 24 |
| Homerton | 14 | ||
| Stoke Newington | 4 | ||
| Haringey | 2 | Tottenham | 2 |
| Harrow | 5 | Harrow | 1 |
| Stanmore | 4 | ||
| Havering | 6 | Romford | 6 |
| Hillingdon | 1 | Heathrow | 1 |
| Hounslow | 1 | Heston | 1 |
| Islington | 4 | Islington | 1 |
| Holloway | 3 | ||
| Kensington and Chelsea | 9 | North Kensington | 6 |
| Kensington | 1 | ||
| Chelsea | 2 | ||
| Kingston | 25 | New Maldon | 25 |
| Lambeth | 8 | Lambeth | 3 |
| Clapham | 3 | ||
| Brixton | 2 | ||
| Lewisham | 8 | Lewisham | 6 |
| Deptford | 2 | ||
| Newham | 19 | East Ham | 1 |
| Stratford | 16 | ||
| Plaistow | 2 | ||
| Redbridge | 1 | Ilford | 1 |
| Richmond | 1 | Richmond | 1 |
| Southwark | 12 | Old Kent Road | 4 |
| Dockhead | 4 | ||
| Peckham | 4 | ||
| Sutton | 3 | Sutton | 3 |
| Tower Hamlets | 30 | Poplar | 19 |
| Shadwell | 2 | ||
| Bethnal Green | 9 | ||
| Waltham Forest | 1 | Walthamstow | 1 |
| Wandsworth | 11 | Wandsworth | 4 |
| Battersea | 7 | ||
| Westminster | 11 | Soho | 3 |
| Paddington | 8 | ||
| City | 3 | Dowgate | 3 |
| Total | 274 premises with stay put temporarily suspended |
Staffing of visits to buildings with stay put suspended
Question No: 2020/1990
Andrew Dismore
What is the standard number of LFB staff who attend a visit to a building where stay put is suspended?
Answer for Staffing of visits to buildings with stay put suspended
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Staffing of visits to buildings with stay put suspended
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
When London Fire Brigade carries out a visit, as opposed to an emergency call to a building, one fire appliance, and a minimum crew of four persons and a maximum of six, would attend.
Duration of visits to buildings with stay put suspended
Question No: 2020/1991
Andrew Dismore
What is the average time taken for a visit by LFB crews to a building where stay put is suspended?
Answer for Duration of visits to buildings with stay put suspended
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Duration of visits to buildings with stay put suspended
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
Visits to buildings where stay put is temporarily suspended usually last 1 to 2 hours, with associated administrative tasks taking an additional 1 to 2 hours.
Emergency service business continuity plans
Question No: 2020/1993
Andrew Dismore
In response to my question 2020/1332, you said that “All emergency services, as Category 1 responders, have a statutory duty to have in place business continuity plans for events like pandemics. These plans are well prepared and tested.” In what sense were plans for PPE supply well prepared and tested?
Answer for Emergency service business continuity plans
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Emergency service business continuity plans
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
Ensuring a robust supply chain for any part of a critical service is a fundamental element to an organisation’s business continuity plan. Each emergency services is responsible for ensuring its individual Business Continuity plan in robust and tested to ensure they are able to deliver their service to London despite disruption. The effectiveness of this system has been proved on multiple occasions when London has faced disruptive incidents in the past.
During the COVID-19 crisis, London’s emergency services have worked collectively to draw down on the national stockpile to maintain the supplies of PPE required to deliver their critical services. There have been widespread pressures on the PPE supply chain across all organisations, including numerous private sector organisations that relied upon the national stockpile whilst commercial supply chains were stretched.
The excellent work of the London Fire Brigade in supporting the distribution of emergency supplies of PPE across London has helped maintain sufficient stocks for London’s responders.
LFB transformation board transparency
Question No: 2020/1996
Andrew Dismore
Will you publish agendas and minutes of the Brigade’s transformation board?
Answer for LFB transformation board transparency
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
LFB transformation board transparency
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
The Transformation Board is an internal forum for working with project and programme managers to oversee the delivery of the Transformation Delivery Plan. It is not a decision-making board and its papers are not published. The new Transformation Director, Fiona Dolman, joined the Brigade on 1 June. As she establishes herself in role, she will be reviewing the Transformation Board, which has met twice, and how it contributes to the delivery of the Plan. The London Fire Commissioner will ensure that the Assembly is kept regularly updated about that work.
Babcock review of LFB training
Question No: 2020/1997
Andrew Dismore
When will the internal Babcock review of the training provided to LFB be complete and will the findings and recommendations be published?
Answer for Babcock review of LFB training
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Babcock review of LFB training
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
Improvement of services from Babcock is being progressed through several workstreams. The transfer of design to London Fire Brigade (LFB) and the process of arranging delivery in-house will begin later this month. The development of a shared trainer resource is another workstream that is being progressed.
LFB will also be amending the commercial side of the contract with Babcock . This workstream will focus on a new pricing mechanism that will protect in-year fluctuations and afford greater flexibility and agility within the contract, including through a revised KPI mechanism. This workstream will address the commercial implications of the transfer of design and the development of a shared trainer resource. Officers will agree contractual variations which will be implemented incrementally to speed the rate of change.
LFB is unable to publish the findings from these workstreams, due to commercial sensitivity. The culmination of these work streams is due by the end of 2023.
Question No: 2020/2001
Andrew Dismore
How is LFB adapting its home fire safety visits programme to react to the coronavirus pandemic?
Answer for Home fire safety visits
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Home fire safety visits
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
At the start of lockdown on 23 March 2020, measures were put in place to offer home fire safety visits (HFSVs) to Londoners in line with the National Fire Chief’s Council advice.
HFSV requests are now triaged on the basis of fire and COVID-19 risk, in line with Public Health England guidance. Requests that are deemed to have a fire risk are visited by London Fire Brigade (LFB). Since 23 March 2020, LFB has carried out 2,146 HFSVs.
Where an individual is symptomatic or is deemed not to have a fire risk, fire safety advice is given and they are placed on a waiting list. Those on the waiting list will be visited by LFB once lockdown measures are eased. Those who are on the waiting list are also signposted to the fire safety pages of the LFB website, which has seen over 80,000 visits since 23 March 2020.
Question No: 2020/2002
Andrew Dismore
LFB’s latest budget allocates £1.29m for greening efforts. What is the timeline for spending this money?
Answer for Making LFB greener (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Making LFB greener (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
The budget of £1.29 million is to fund the first year of the London Fire Brigade’s Carbon Reduction Strategy measures, which include photovoltaics, LED lighting, boiler replacement, an air source heat pump pilot, heating control improvements and an additional post to implement the measures during 2020/21. Work is underway to progress these projects. It is too soon to determine whether delays due to COVID-19 will affect completion within this financial year.
Question No: 2020/2003
Andrew Dismore
Will the £1.29m investment in carbon reduction deliver the target of 60% reductions on LFB’s 1990 emissions?
Answer for Making LFB greener (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Making LFB greener (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
The £1.29 million of funding is for year one of a three-year investment plan to achieve the 60 per cent target, as set out in the London Fire Brigade’s Carbon Reduction Strategy 2020-2025. Carbon reduction currently stands at around 53 per cent compared to the 1990 baseline. The proposed year one measures include actions to reduce carbon in the short term and develop and test plans to reduce carbon in the longer term, working towards carbon zero by 2050.
Question No: 2020/2004
Andrew Dismore
How much energy generation is planned for LFB stations?
Answer for Making LFB greener (3)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Making LFB greener (3)
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
The London Fire Brigade’s Carbon Reduction Strategy outlines plans to install photovoltaics at another 28 fire stations over three years, 848 kWp of photovoltaics already installed at 65 sites. Funds allocated for 2020/21 will allow for installation of photovoltaics at approximately eight to ten sites, which is expected to collectively add 110 kWp additional to the LFB’s onsite energy generation capacity.
Capital Guard LFB contract (1)
Question No: 2020/2009
Andrew Dismore
In each year of the Capital Guard contract with LFB from 2014 to 2020, how much was paid by the Brigade?
Answer for Capital Guard LFB contract (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Capital Guard LFB contract (1)
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
Please find information provided in the table below.
The standard steady state annual charge for the Emergency Fire Crews contract supports the management, recruitment, retention and both initial and continuation training or the Emergency Fire Crews and Command Support Teams. Deployment costs are those costs related to direct deployment during industrial action. These costs include all staff deployment costs, travel, accommodation, vehicles hire, fuel and subsistence for the Emergency Fire Crews and Command Support teams.
The first two financial years shown – 2014/15 and 2015/16 – include both steady state costs and deployment costs, as deployments were made in these years only (please see response to MQ 2020/2010 for further information).
This contract commenced in November 2014, hence 2014/15 figures are for 4.5 months only.
Costs for 2020/21 are for two months steady state charges only – London Fire Brigade has only received two invoices for this year to date.
| Financial Year | 14/15 | 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 | 20/21 |
| Capital guard contract costs (£) | 5,397,787 | 5,066,749 | 4,068,543 | 4,290,894 | 4,260,613 | 4,374,168 | 743,784 |
Capital Guard LFB contract (2)
Question No: 2020/2010
Andrew Dismore
In each year of the Capital Guard contract with LFB, how many times were services activated?
Answer for Capital Guard LFB contract (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Capital Guard LFB contract (2)
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
Please see the table below:
| Calendar Year | Number of times LFB Capital Guard contract activated |
| 2013 | 9 |
| 2014 | 40 |
| 2015 | 1 |
| 2016 | 0 |
| 2017 | 0 |
| 2018 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 |
Capital Guard LFB contract (3)
Question No: 2020/2011
Andrew Dismore
Where and when was the contract for fire and control cover, held by Capital Guard from 2014 to 2020, advertised, before being re-awarded to Capital Guard?
Answer for Capital Guard LFB contract (3)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Capital Guard LFB contract (3)
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
Capital Guard is the name given to a business continuity solution provided to the London Fire Brigade by Securitas, which is implemented when the Emergency Fire Crew Capability contract is actively deployed during periods of industrial action.
In June 2013, the contract opportunity for this service was advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Prior to the formal advertisement, an invitation for market consultation was published on 13 May 2013 to enable officers to seek advice and opinions from the marketplace prior to beginning the formal tender process. Four companies responded to this invitation and two, Securitas and Scion Technical Services Ltd, attended question and answer sessions at the London Fire Brigade’s Headquarters on 29 and 31 May 2013 respectively. Securitas was the only company that submitted a bid.
Capital Guard LFB contract (4)
Question No: 2020/2012
Andrew Dismore
How many bids for the fire and control cover contract, held by Capital Guard from 2014 to 2020, were received when it was re-tendered in advance of its expiry in November 2020?
Answer for Capital Guard LFB contract (4)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Capital Guard LFB contract (4)
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
Only one bid was received for the contract in 2014, which was from Securitas. Another company – Scion Technical Services Ltd – initially responded to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) advert but withdrew at the point when the bids were due to be submitted. The contract was not retendered prior to its expiry in November 2020, the extension provisions were included in the 2014 contract.
Capital Guard LFB contract (5)
Question No: 2020/2013
Andrew Dismore
What is the value and duration of the new contract for fire and control cover that has been awarded to Capital Guard from the period of November 2020 onwards?
Answer for Capital Guard LFB contract (5)
The Mayor
Last updated: 23 June, 2020
Officers are drafting a response
Capital Guard LFB contract (5)
The Mayor
Last updated: 10 July, 2020
The extension is part of the existing contract. This has not yet been awarded as the governance process has not been completed, but the maximum value of this three-year extension is £13,993,000, including estimated costs for future cost inflation pressures. The charges are specifically for the steady state annual charge, which includes the continued management, recruitment, retention and initial and continued training of the Emergency Fire Crew Capability staff. These costs do not include any additional deployment costs, should there be further periods of industrial action.
| Year | Year Total |
| 20/21 (Year 7 – first year of Extension) | £4,515k |
| 21/22 (Year 8 – second year of Extension) | £4,660k |
| 22/23 (Year 9 – third year of Extension) | £4,817k |
