Consultation on Future of London Fire Services What you need to know and how the cuts will affect

you
This document sets out some frequently asked questions regarding the consultation on the draft Fifth London Safety Plan (LSP5) which sets out future plans for the London Fire Services including cuts to 12 fire stations, 18 fire engines and 520 fire fighter jobs. Why are the London Fire Brigade closing 12 stations? The Conservative/LibDem Government has cut the grant that the London Fire Brigade receive for 2013/14 and 2014/15 by over 30m. Additionally, the Conservative Mayor wants to reduce the Council Tax by 1p a day (for a Band D property) as well as having taken 50m from the reserves over the last two years to fund the police. This has resulted in the London Fire Brigade being required by the Mayor to make savings of 45m over a two year period. As a result, the Commissioner and his staff have proposed closing 12 fire stations, cutting 18 fire engines and 520 fire fighters posts. What has happened so far this year? The Labour Group on the London Fire Authority has twice tabled successful amendments to stop the cuts going forward. The Conservative Group wants to close fire stations and cut fire engines and firefighters. However, the Mayor has not listened to Londoners who are happy with the current level of service or the Fire Authority. He has used his legal powers to order the Fire Authority to consult on the cuts even though it did not want to do so. The Fire Authority listened to Londoners and will continue to do so in the consultation which is now starting. Can the Mayor afford to continue to keep the Fire Brigade at the current strength? Yes. The Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat Groups proposed at the GLA budget meeting a technical amendment which was carried. This is the first time in over a decade that a technical amendment has been agreed. It set out proposals for a balanced budget for 2013/14 which, amongst other benefits, would have avoided cuts to the Fire Brigade. Part of the amendment was to cancel the Mayors council tax cut equivalent to just 1p per day for the average council tax payer. The same approach of freezing the precept in future years, rather than accepting the Mayors planned precept cuts, can release the remaining funding needed to avoid any closure of fire stations or cuts in the number of fire engines. However, this amendment is not binding on the Mayor who is insisting (and has the power to do so) his original budget for 2013/14 stands. What is the draft Fifth London Safety Plan? The draft Fifth London Safety Plan is the Plan that the London Fire Brigade produce that sets out how the Brigade will meet the risks London and Londoners face from fire and other incidents that the Brigade respond to such as flooding or catastrophic events like the 7/7 attacks. This is the document that includes the proposals for 12 station closures, the loss of 18 fire engines and 520 front line firefighter posts, put forward due to the cuts in the budget required by the Mayor. (It also covers other non contentious issues, like improvements to fire safety). There have been 4 previous LSPs since 04. This is the 5th one and covers the period from 2013 onwards. It is this document the Mayor has forced the Fire Brigade to consult on, through his threatened legal action. Is the consultation going ahead? Yes, but only on the understanding that the 2013/14 budget will not include any cuts based on the draft LSP5, (in particular the station closures and withdrawal of fire engines and firefighter posts) the Fire Authority agreed to a Labour Group proposal, with support from the Lib Dem and Greens, that it was not in the interests of Londoners to spend taxpayers money on lawyers by going to court, so the Authority reluctantly agreed to allow the consultation to go ahead. The Labour Group also achieved agreement to

improve the consultation, including public meetings every London resident would have the chance to attend- meetings originally also vetoed by Boris Johnson. The consultation results and recommendations concerning the implementation of LSP 5 (or otherwise) will be reported to the Authority by October 2013.

Will there be cuts in 2013/14? On 28th March, the Authority is due to agree its 2013/14 budget. The 2013/14 budget will be balanced and will not include any of the cuts in draft LSP5, so there is no need financially for any cuts to happen in 2013/14, as the budget for the year will not require them.
However, the Mayor has stated in his direction that he wants the LSP5 to be finalised and for implementation to begin by October 2013, which may well include fire station closures and cuts to fire engines and firefighters, depending on the consultation outcome, even though the 2013/14 budget does not need this. The Labour Group will continue to fight for the interests of Londoners.

How do you know the public dont want the cuts? The London Fire Brigade undertook extensive public opinion research which proves that people are satisfied with the service and do not want cuts to the Fire Brigade. They see it as a value for money insurance policy, even if savings would be made as a result of cuts. This is backed-up by the response on the doorstep Londoners do not support these cuts. Why is Labour against this, isnt it the Commissioners professional opinion - a firefighter of over 33 years? The Commissioner qualified his opinion by making it clear that he is proposing the LSP5 policies in light of the financial constratints being imposed on the Fire Brigade. His draft LSP 5 plan cuts are only in the context of putting forward proposals to minimise the impact of those cuts on Brigade attendance times. These proposals are in the context of the Mayor and the Conservative/LibDem Governments reckless plan to cut the fire budget. The Commissioner and his staff never suggested making service cuts on this scale before the budget cuts were announced. The Commissioner says that the brigade will still meet its target response times, so why does it matter? There is a difference between target and actual response times. The target for the first engine is 6 minutes and for the second, 8 minutes. These are based on averages, too. In many areas, actual response times are better than the targets, however, some areas do not currently meet their target time, for example Enfield, Harrow or Barnet. It is areas such as Camden and Westminster which will see a dramatic increase in their attendance times, even if technically still within the target. What exactly are attendance times? This is the time between a fire station receiving the call from the brigade control centre and the fire engine arriving at an incident.
It is not from the time of the 999 call nor does it end when the brigade actually start work on the fire. if the fire is in a tower block, for example, the attendance time is measured up to the point the fire crew manager books the fire engine at the address of the block, not outside the individual flat concerned: it could be quite a bit longer before they actually reach the fire if it is on an upper floor and start rescue or firefighting work.

It only increases some attendance response times and doesnt it actually improve response times in some areas? Though a few boroughs will receive a marginally improved service (by redeploying 4 fire engines from inner to outer London Boroughs) vast areas of London will receive a worse service in practice. We do not oppose measures to improve performance in those boroughs which will have better times. But overall performance

in London gets worse. London-wide attendance to an incident will increase by 15 seconds for the first fire engine and 16 seconds for the second fire engine. According to the Borough averages, 4.7 million Londoners (or 58%) will see an increase in the time it takes fire engines to arrive. Areas like Conservative run Westminster will see an increase of 41seconds for the first fire engine attendance, which is why their council has come out against the proposals along with Conservative Kensington and Chelsea. Camden will see an average increase of 45 seconds for their first fire engine attending an incident. The stations that are proposed for closure are in the poorest areas of the city. Research by the London Fire Brigade clearly shows those most at risk from fire are those who predominantly live in the most deprived areas of the city.

The differences are only in seconds, does it matter? It is important, because seconds count: for example a domestic fire can quadruple in intensity in just 2 minutes. We dont have a fire station closing near us, why should I care? The London Fire Brigade plans emergency cover on a London-wide basis. Fire stations respond to fires throughout London and not just in their locality. The closures will increase the average attendance time for London as a whole. There are only six boroughs where attendance times marginally fall. Each area is dependent on fire engines from neighbouring fire stations. For example, Clerkenwell and Islington attend hundreds of incidents in Camden each year. But once these cuts happen, that will be it, wont it? No more cuts? The Labour Group doesnt think so. If these cuts go through, there is still an additional 5.6m to find for 2014/15. The budget shortfall for 2015/16 is over 9m and the Chancellor has already said that he expects the cuts agenda to continue until 2018. To cut the budget by this further 15m, we believe that the Mayor will demand even more station closures and fire engine withdrawals in the future. Isnt it Labours fault anyhow? The cuts to public services, including the fire brigade, are not a response to the world wide economic downturn. The Conservative/LibDem government have driven forward a politically motivated economic policy of cutting too far, too fast. Additionally, the Mayor proposes to reduce council tax by 1.2% in 2013/14. That equates to a 1p cut per day for a Band D property (11m cut). We believe Londoners would be happy for that 1p to go towards the costs of the service they receive from the fire brigade. Who should I contact to give my view? Where can I find the consultation details? It is vital that as many Londoners as possible express their views on these cuts, especially if they think they are wrong. You can do so online, by post and by attending the public meeting for your area.
The consultation on the draft Fifth London Safety Plan was formally launched on 4th March 2013. Further information is available on the London Fire Brigade website - www.london-fire.gov.uk/lsp5. People can respond to the consultation by email, by Freephone number, by post and interactively responding on the website noted above. The London Fire Brigade contact details are: London Fire Brigade, 169 Union Street, London, SE1 0LL Tel: 0800 9888 569 Email: info@london-fire.gov.uk

How can I get involved in the campaign? If you want further information about the 999 SOS campaign, please go to www.999SOS.org.uk or email London@labour.org.uk, or write to 999 SOS, London Labour Party, 10 Melton Street, London NW1 2EB.
Printed and promoted by Alan Olive on behalf of the London Labour Party, 10 Melton Street, London NW1 2EB

March 2013