Emergency services are being devastated acrossLondonwith the closure of 17 fire stations, eight Accident and Emergency Units and countless police stations and front-counters. When it comes toLondon’s blue light services, Boris has proved himself to be a do-nothing politician and a know-nothing mayor. We are facing utter confusion about cuts toLondon’s policing from his office, as well as which fire stations will be chopped.

I recently supported a motion that was passed at last month’s London Assembly meeting tabled by my colleagues. It called on Boris “to reconsider and abandon his own draconian cuts to the emergency services” to keep Londoners safe. AcrossLondon, blue-light services are being threatened and we must stand together to fight to save these services.

The London Fire Brigade is facing steep cuts due to the government cutting the fire budget by 25% – £65million in total. This is even deeper than the 20% cut to the police’s budget. It has been hailed as the biggest shake-up to the London Fire Brigade since it was created 146 years ago.  

The Labour Group has repeatedly asked for a list of stations at risk of closure. A leaked document recently showed 17 stations have been earmarked for closure, but potentially this number could be greater. Furthermore, Chair of the London Fire Authority, James Cleverly has only confirmed that 28 out ofLondon’s 112 fire stations are safe.

Despite Prime Minister David Cameron declaring the Conservatives are “the party of the NHS”, every healthcare budget inLondonhas been slashed. The London Ambulance Service will lose £53million (19%) of it’s budget by 2015/16, resulting in 890 job cuts, of which 560 jobs will be frontline staff.  

Accident and Emergency departments will be under intense pressure when eight ofLondon’s 32 A&E departments close over the next few years. The capital’s population is predicted to grow to 9million by 2020, meaning each A&E will cover 375,000 residents – an increase of 120,000 for each A&E.  

The Metropolitan Police has admitted to feeling the effects of having a quarter of its budget cut from central government. Met Headquarters at New Scotland Yard will be sold as well as 665 police stations which will replaced with “contact points”.  

It’s unlikely the Mayor will be able to keep his election promise to have 1,000 more police officers inLondonthan when he took office. However, it’s unsurprising as the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) stated that government cuts to the policing budget of more then 12% would hit front line services.  

We have already lost 1,444 police officers and 1,960 PCSOs inLondonsince May 2010, with the cuts now starting to bite even deeper we will undoubtedly lose even more. The Met has also lost over a 1,000 civilian staff meaning that police officers are having to cover back office roles rather than being on the beat.  

I am deeply concerned about our frontline services. This is the unacceptable and dangerous face of deep cuts. The Mayor of London has tried to duck and dive when questioned directly about cuts to the NHS but he has direct responsibility for the fire and police services so has to take responsibility for the closure of fire and police stations and the loss of police officers on his watch. The cuts are going too far and too fast and will inevitably endanger the lives’ of Londoners.

This blog has been published as an article in Tribune, in its present edition.

The GO 20 campaign is encouraging drivers to slow down to 20mph around homes, schools and shops. In 2009, a London Assembly Transport Committee investigation found that in areas where 20 mph has been introduced in London there has been a 42 per cent reduction in casualties.

Transport for London (TfL) has recently invited comments for a new Road Safety Action Plan for the capital. Murad Qureshi AM has backed the submission by the charity Living Streets, which focuses on road safety for pedestrians.

　

London-wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said:

"I fully support the GO 20 campaign to slow traffic down on our streets. A 20 mph limit offers the potential to increase levels of walking and cycling. I would like to hear from residents about where in Westminster could benefit from 20mph limits, where there are dangerous black spots and where crossings need to be made safer.

　

"We also need to make sure that all dangerous junctions are identified and made safer for cyclists. Currently Grosvenor Road/Chelsea Bridge, Hyde Park Corner and Marble Arch are some of the junctions being reviewed by TfL. I’m calling on local residents to let me know which junctions they think are unsafe, they can write to me at murad.qureshi

　

"At a time when the Mayor has cut the road safety budget from £59m in 2008 to just £23m this year, it is more important than ever to slow down traffic in residential areas and make all of our dangerous junctions and streets safe for people on foot and bicycle."

　

Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive of Brake, the road safety charity, said:

"Everyone in London should be able to walk and cycle without fear or threat, and GO 20 is about bringing that about. The 2012 Games helped us all realise the importance of being able to live active lifestyles. Critical to this is making our streets and neighbourhoods safe places we can use and enjoy.

"Anyone who drives can help bring this about: pledge to GO 20 around homes, schools and shops: you’ll be helping to protect people, and you’ll hardly notice the difference to your journey. We’re also calling on the government and more London boroughs to recognise the benefits of 20mph limits, and the huge demand for safe walking and cycling, and GO 20."

@london.gov.uk or write to Murad Qureshi AM, City Hall, London SE1 2AA.

Ends

www.go20.org.

Transport for London’s Better Junctions List – Top 100 Junctions for Review

www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/corporate/better-junctions-top-100.pdf

　

Notes

<dir></dir>

3. The Living Streets submission to the Mayor of London’s "Towards a Road Safety Action Plan for London 2020" is attached.

Murad Qureshi is a London-wide Assembly Member.

Road Safety Week runs between 19-25 November 2012, coordinated by Brake, the road safety charity. For more information, visit GO 20 is a partnership campaign. Find out more at

London Assembly Transport Committee’s 2009 report, Braking it

At the London Assembly Plenary meeting this week, a motion was passed condemning the £148million cuts that have been forced on the Metropolitan Police’s budget in the next financial year.

Funding to the Metropolitan Police Service has been cut by the Coalition Government by 20 per cent. Over 891 PCSOs are likely to be cut, up to 65 front counters or police stations closed across <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>, and borough commanders will be merged.

Across <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> since May 2010, the Met has lost:

1,956 police officers

1,800 PCSOs

Over 1,330 civilian staff

Labour London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said:

“The Met Police is facing a dramatic 20 per cent budget cut and is in dire financial straits. The Coalition Government is cutting the police budget too far and too fast.

 “The Mayor has failed to get a good deal for Londoners from Government and we are now seeing the impact of cuts on our front line services. They are cutting too far and too fast, they need to urgently re-think their plans.

Ends

Notes

Murad Qureshi AM is a <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> wide Assembly Member

The full text of the motion agreed at the meeting reads as follows: 

“This Assembly notes the recent announcement by the Metropolitan Police that, in an attempt to fill the budget gap resulting from reckless government cuts of 20%, 891 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are likely to be cut, up to 65 front counters or police stations closed, and borough commanders merged. Additionally, this Assembly acknowledges that <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> has already lost 1,956 police officers, 1,800 PCSOs, and over 1,339 civilian staff since May 2010.

This Assembly also notes that the Mayor’s revised budget guidance letter dated 19th October 2012, stated that the Metropolitan Police would have to achieve cuts of £148 million next year. Further, that this letter accepted for the first time that the Mayor may not be able to keep his election promise to have 1,000 more police officers in <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> than when he took office.

This Assembly is aware of the conclusion of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) that frontline policing services could only be preserved if budget cuts were limited to a maximum of 12%.  This Assembly also notes that the Coalition Government has set targets to cut the police budget by 20%.

This Assembly therefore urges the Mayor to enter in to urgent negotiations with the Coalition Government to achieve a better settlement for Londoners that would prevent the loss of up to 50% of police station front counters and large numbers of police that the people of London truly value and rely on to keep them safe.”

      3.   The motion was agreed at a meeting of the full Assembly on Wednesday. Watch a webcast of the meeting.

Last week l joined workers in wetsuits, snorkels and flippers to show what experiencing city living in a waterlogged London in 2100 could be like as a result of climate change. Outside Whitechapel tube station, we also advertised an evening l am hosting with Practial Action at City Hall, London Bridge next monday on ” Bridging climate gap between the UK & Bangladesh”

Supporters and staff from international development charity Practical Action took part in the action outside tube stations to highlight the effects of climate change on London and in the developing world in cities like Dhaka by handing out alternative tube maps showing how much of the tube could be under water by 2100.

 The workers were there to demonstrate what the average city worker will need to wear to get to work should current predictions of a three metre rise take place.

We are asking the UK Government to take action at the global climate change talks in Doha, later this month via a social media campaign, #adaptnow..

While a rise of three metres would change London forever, it would decimate the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka – one of the most populous and poverty-stricken capital cities on Earth.

 Practical Action calls on the UK government to:

• Put adaptation centre stage in the forthcoming climate talks in Doha

• To ensure that at least 50 per cent of climate finance is spent on adaptation. It is currently less than 10 per cent.

• To ensure the UK honours its part of the UN commitment to increase the Green Climate Fund to $100bn by 2020. Currently $11bn has been committed but no money has been paid

This call for climate justice at Doha will be launched on monday night, 19th November at City Hall along Queens Walk with many from the one of the London’s communities most affected by climate change both here and over there, the Bangladeshis. So see you there.

Taste of London-on-sea & Dhaka under sea in 2100.

Surprisingly no ambulance stations are being cut unlike with the Police & Fire service cuts where a number of stations will be lost across the whole of London.

 Despite Prime Minister David Cameron declaring the Conservatives are “the party of the NHS”, health care budgets in London are being slashed by £ 2 billion. One element of the cuts which has not got the attention it deserves is the London Ambulance Service which will lose £ 53 million of its budget, that is 19 per cent by 2015/16, resulting in 890 jobs cuts, of which 560 jobs will be frontline staff.

This for a service that will have to cope with the hugely increased work load as we see London lose up to 8 A&E’s across the whole of Greater London. We go from 32 A&E’s in 2010 to 24 A&E’s in 2020 and no provision having been made for the vast increase in the numbers of the extra ambulance journeys going to be made to compensate for less local A&E’s, as the closer plans make no provisions. On top of this we  have population growth in London expected from the present 8.17 million going up to 9 million by 2020, adding an extra 120,000 to serve in their catchment areas.

Furthermore, its going to cost extra to provide adequate ambulance cover to get people to hospital when we have lost a quarter of A&E departments. The Daily Mail recently estimated that with the closer of Ealing Hospital A&E you can expect an addtional 50 extra trips to other hospitals, which would cost an additional £ 6 million annually. No savings made there clearly with the cuts.

So its only a matter of time before reducing shifts levels and increasing call rates result in tragedy.

Murad Qureshi AM questioned EDF Energy, who will be introducing the highest price rise, directly about the difference between energy prices in France, where customers have seen a two per cent increase, with the 11 per cent rise customers have faced in the UK. 

A fifth of London households are estimated to be in fuel poverty with 10 per cent of their income going towards fuel costs. There are 126,400 households in severe fuel poverty, where fuel costs more than 20 per cent of their basic income. 

London Assembly Labour Group’s Environment spokesman Murad Qureshi said:

"These enormous price rises are pushing thousands of Londoners in to fuel poverty and energy companies should be ashamed of themselves. They are putting profit over the wellbeing of their customers. 

"Every one per cent increase in energy prices sends 40,000 customers in to fuel poverty across the whole of the UK. It is disgraceful that energy companies are holding customers over a barrel like this by putting up prices on mass. 

"On average 3,710 Londoners are dying every year as a result of living in a cold home. People have to make the choice between putting food on the table and heating their home. With rents, fares and bills all going up many Londoners are struggling to keep up. I urge the Government to act quickly to help those people who can’t afford to heat their homes this winter."

　

Ends

Notes

Murad Qureshi is the London Assembly Labour Group’s Environment spokesman.

Watch the Health and Environment Committee here: 

http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/webcast/healthenvcom081112.asx

Assembly Members Murad Qureshi, Jennette Arnold OBE, Dr Onkar Sahota and Navin Shah signed a joint letter to Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe asking his to reconsider the EDL’s status.

The Met applied to the Secretary of State Theresa May amid fears of public disorder as the EDL prepared to march in Walthamstow for the second time in one month. Members of the EDL have targeted London boroughs where there are a number of different faith groups and non-white communities.

Labour London-wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said:

"We call on Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe to brand the EDL as an extremist group. Members of the EDL are disrupting our communities and promoting violence and racist ideology. They are obviously a far-right group, bent on causing as much trouble in our diverse communities as possible.

"It is disgraceful that people such as the EDL who don’t even live in London and have to travel from outside the city are allowed to come to our neighbourhood to promote their evil racist ideology. We must stand together and recognise the EDL for what they are, an extremist far-right group."

Ends

Notes

<dir><dir></dir></dir>

Murad Qureshi is a London-wide Assembly Member.

Jennette Arnold OBE is a London Assembly Member for North East, including Islignton, Hackney and Waltham Forest.

Dr Onkar Sahota is a London Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon.

Navin Shah is a London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow.

The letter is attached and reads:

"We welcomed the Government’s decision last week to ban the planned EDL march through Waltham Forest and other nearby boroughs. Waltham Forest has become a target for these marches as it is home to a rich tapestry of communities and faiths which these events are designed to attack.

In the past, these marches have been organised and attended by EDL members who have no connection with the local community and they have led to disorder and tension on the streets within a community which otherwise live and work together without trouble or contempt for each other.

In light of past experiences of EDL marches and this recent ban, we urge you to revise the Met’s view about the status of the EDL. We ask this because, back in September 2009, the then Met Police commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson told the MPA that the EDL　"are not viewed as an extreme right wing group in the accepted sense". Last year, it was reported that Adrian Tudway, head of the national domestic extremism unit at Scotland Yard, stated in an email to a Muslim organisation that "in terms of the position with EDL, the original stance stands, they are not extreme right wing as a group" adding "I really think you need to open a direct line of dialogue with them, that might be the best way to engage them and re-direct their activity". These sentiments are not only patronising to London’s Muslim community, they are wholly inconsistent with the EDL’s recent actions and the reaction by the local community to their presence.

The recent arrests by the Met Police and the request to ban the march last week were both based upon intelligence led investigation; it is clear, therefore, that the perception of the EDL as a non right wing organisation is misconceived. This misconception should be put right, and we hope that recent actions by the Met police and the Home Secretary should pave a way forward to restating the Met’s views on the EDL. We believe this is the time to draw a line in the sand from past statements made by or on behalf of the Met on this subject and we seek your reassurance that such statements will not be made under your watch in the future."

Mr Singh, Stephen Knight AM and myself experiencing the noise levels over Cranford during out recent site visit

At the heart of the debate over aviation expansion is the balancing act between the demands of business against the negative impact of expansion on the quality of life for residents affected by increasing noise and pollution.

Earlier this month, the Health and Environment Committee visited Cranford, which sits just a mile away from the eastern end of the Heathrow runways.  There, I spoke to a local resident called Mr Singh.  Both Mr Singh and his wife work at Heathrow Airport.  In many respects their future, like the future of many of their neighbours, are tied to the success of the airport. Yet Mr Singh opposes expansion at Heathrow.

The reason is clear – expanding Heathrow would be catastrophic to the quality of life for residents like Mr Singh. If Heathrow were expanded, the interests of local residents would be jettisoned to serve the interests of big business.

The London Assembly Health and Environment Committee’s submission to the Draft Aviation Policy Framework addresses this balancing act.  It seeks to secure jobs at airports like Heathrow but at no additional cost to residents’ quality of life.

It is clear to us on the London Assembly Health and Environment Committee that local environmental problems, such as noise and air pollution, are the primary concerns for Londoners in the aviation debate.

On noise, we need independent oversight of airport noise management, including over the mitigation and compensation measures airports offer to residents. It is not good enough for airports themselves to undertake this responsibility. The consequence of this is a postcode lottery where different operators offer different mitigation schemes with different trigger values and area coverage.

We want the government to address the need for consistency across London.

Studies on air quality, such as the recent report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, confirm the findings of our previous report Plane Speaking, published in March 2012 on the impact of poor air quality on life expectancy.  The submission reaffirms the recommendations from this previous investigation.

On global environmental issues such as carbon emissions, the committee heard that at best the inclusion of aviation within the European Union Emissions Trading System (EST) is a short term solution. Even if international agreements and technological innovation progress at the desired pace, ETS would require unrealistic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from life style change and other sectors of economy to make up for the C02 not being cut by the aviation sector.

In this respect, the premise that “we could cover the whole of Surreywith runways and not increase emissions by a single kilogram”, as stated by Tim Yeo MP, Chair of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, is out of kilter with the evidence presented by the experts to this committee.

But not only do his comments overestimate the effectiveness of the ETS, they fail to take on board the main concerns Londoners have about aviation – noise and air pollution.

Across <place w:st=”on”><city w:st=”on”>London</city></place>, blue-light services are being threatened:

• The London Fire Brigade is facing steep cuts due to the government cutting the fire budget by 25% – £65million in total

• London Ambulance Service will lose £53million (19%) of it’s budget by 2015/16, resulting in 890 job cuts, of which 560 will be frontline staff

• The Metropolitan Police is being cut by 12% and has already lost 1,777 police officers and 1,800 PCSOs in the past two years

• A&Es will be forced to cater for an extra 120,000 residents on average each. In 2010 there were 32 A&E departments in <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>, but only 24 would remain under these plans.

London-wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi who supported the motion said:

“The Mayor must wake up to the effects of these devastating cuts on Londoners’ safety. The closures of police front desks, fire stations and A & E departments will mean various pockets of <place w:st=”on”><city w:st=”on”>London</city></place> could see the safety of residents threatened by longer response times.”

“The Mayor has tried to duck and dive when questioned directly about cuts to the NHS but he has direct responsibility for the fire and police services so has to take responsibility for the closure of fire and police stations and the loss of police officers on his watch. These cuts are going too far and too fast and will inevitably endanger families and communities across the capital”

Ends

Notes

1.      Murad Qureshi is a Londonwide Assembly Member.

2.      The 32 A&E’s served a population of 8.17million Londoners, an average of 255,000 people each. Reducing to 24 A&Es will mean they have to cover 340,000 each, with <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city>’s population due to rise to 9million by 2020. This will increase the number of people each A&E is due to cover to 375,000 residents – an increase of 120,000 for each A&E. This assumes that no further closures take place.

3.      The motion passed on Wednesday 24 October read:

“This Assembly believes that the safety and security of Londoners is being put at risk as a result of cuts to emergency services being pushed through by the Mayor and the Coalition Government to the key emergency services ““ the Metropolitan Police Service, the London Fire Brigade alongside the London Ambulance Service and the city’s Accident & Emergency Departments.

The Assembly believes that the cuts are going too far and too fast and that the many millions of pounds being taken from the budgets of the NHS, the Metropolitan Police Service and the London Fire Brigade will inevitably endanger families and communities across the capital.

This Assembly believes that the cuts, from these various budget streams, are being carried out without strategic consideration of their aggregate effects on Londoners’ safety or the geography of blue light coverage. The closures of police front desks, fire stations and A & E departments will mean various pockets of <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> could see the safety of residents threatened by longer response times.

This Assembly recognises the strategic, metropolitan perspective of the Mayor of <city w:st=”on”><place w:st=”on”>London</place></city> and Greater London Authority and challenges his acceptance of these cuts as an economic necessity, with little information or regard for the safety consequences. This Assembly calls on the Mayor to commission strategic research into the formation of blue light black holes, to stand up for Londoners against the cuts being imposed by the Coalition Government and to reconsider and abandon his own draconian cuts to the emergency services on which we rely to keep Londoners safe.”

The webcast for the London Assembly meeting where the motion was passed on Wednesday 24 October 2012 can be watched here: http://www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/the-london-assembly/webcasts

For more information please contact Research and Support Officer Nikki Salih, on 020 7983 4400. Number not for publication.