Fire brigade statistics blow hole in Mayor’s case for fire cuts

The information was quietly released onto the London Fire Brigade’s website late yesterday (Tuesday). So far 11 boroughs have had their formal consultation meetings with the Fire Brigade, despite the fact they were not provided with these detailed figures which for the first time reveal the full impact of the Mayor’s cuts.

The details show that residents in an additional 41 wards in London will fall outside of the target response time of six minutes for the first fire engine. This is on top of the 267 already falling outside the target.

Londonwide Labour Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said:

“These figures clearly show that the Mayor has been misleading Londoners, his cuts will mean that people across our city will have to wait significantly longer for a fire engine to arrive in the event of an emergency. In Warwick the increase is from 4.34 to 7.16 minutes, Vincent Square will increase from 3.54 to 6.14 minutes and Tachbrook increases from 4.29 minutes to 6.33. These increases are all more than 2 minutes.  This might not sound a lot but a fire can quadruple in intensity every two minutes. These increases are truly scandalous; no wonder they didn’t release this information sooner. This completely blows a hole in the Mayor’s plans for fire cuts; he must abandon them now and adopt our fully costed plan to keep them all open.

“This shows how flawed the Mayor’s Draft Fire Plan is, the borough response times in the plan hide these local increases, which are disgraceful. The Mayor’s plans to cut 12 fire stations, 18 fire engines and 520 firefighters are unacceptable. We presented him with a fully costed plan to keep them all, instead he has chosen to cut council tax by one penny a day. While a small amount to individual Londoners, across our city this adds up and will lead to a huge cut in our valued fire service. It is more urgent than ever that Londoners respond to the Mayor’s consultation and tell him what they think. Boris must take Londoners for complete fools if he thinks he can get away with this.”

The full list of increases across London is set out below:

Bromley: Plaistow & Sunridge (5.33 ““ 6.06) 33seconds increase

Camden: Belsize (4.37 ““ 7.59) 3.22mins increase; Camden Town with Primrose Hill (5.23 ““ 6.27) 1.04mins increase; Gospel Oak (5.27 ““ 6.11) 44 seconds increase; Hampstead Town (5.07 ““ 6.46) 1.39mins increase; Haverstock (5.15-6.16) 1.01 mins increase; Swiss Cottage (5.19-6.45) 1.26mins increase

City of London: Aldersgate (5.22-6.03) 41secs increase; Castle Baynard (5.35-6.17) 42secs increase; Cheap (5.56-6.15) 19secs increase; Farringdon without (5.10 ““ 6.08) 58secs increase

Greenwich: Woolwich Common (5.32 ““ 6.36) 1.04mins increase; Woolwich Riverside (4.57 ““ 7.26) 2.29mins increase

Hackney: Dalston (5.18 ““ 6.59) 1.41mins increase; De Beauvoir (4.24 ““ 7.37) 3.13mins increase; New River (5.56 ““ 6.01) 5secs increase; Queensbridge (5.00 ““ 6.43) 1.43mins increase

Islington:  Clerkenwell (4.19 ““ 6.26) 2.07mins increase; Mildmay (5.44-6.41) 57secs increase

Kensington & Chelsea: Brompton (4.37 ““ 6.27) 1.50mins increase

Lambeth: Clapham Common (4.50-7.47) 2.57mins increase; Clapham Town (3.56-7.53) 3.57mins increase

Lewisham: Catford South (5.29-6.13) 44secs increase; Downham (5.54-7.38) 1.44mins increase; Grove Park (5.10-6.27) 1.17mins increase; Telegraph Hill (5.15-7.24) 2.09mins increase; Whitefoot (5.08-7.57) 2.49mins increase

Newham: Canning Town North (5.58-6.11) 13secs increase; Canning Town South (5.29-6.11) 42secs increase; Royal Docks (5.27-8.39) 3.12mins increase

Tower Hamlets: Bow East (4.09-7.20) 3.11mins increase; Bow West (4.41-6.39) 1.58mins increase; Bromley-by-Bow (5.45-6.10) 25secs increase; Mile End East (5.26-6.18) 52secs increase

Wandsworth: Queenstown (5.25-6.45) 1.20mins increase

Westminster: Abbey Road (5.58 ““ 6.36) 38secs increase; Churchill (5.27-6.51) 1.24mins increase; Tachbrook (4.29-6.33) 2.04mins increase; Vincent Square (3.54-6.14) 2.20mins increase; Warwick (4.34-7.16) 2.42mins increase; West End (5.44-6.16) 32secs increase

Ends

Notes

1.    Murad Qureshi AM is a Londonwide Labour London Assembly Member

2.    A ward breakdown can be found here: http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/Documents/ward-impacts.pdf

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