Westminster’s most deprived area hit hardest by Mayor’s fire cuts
New analysis has revealed that Church Street Ward will be hardest hit by the Mayor of London’s proposed cuts to the London Fire Brigade with a 7 second increase in the time it takes for the first fire engine to attend an incident.
Of the 100 most deprived wards in London, 76 of them will have an increase in the time it takes for the first fire engine to arrive, and 82 of them will see an increase in the time for the second fire engine to arrive at an incident. London wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM questioned Boris Johnson at today’s Mayor’s Question Time. The Mayor is proposing to close Westminster fire station and a public consultation is currently underway and will run until 17th June 2013.
In Westminster the following areas will see an increase in attendance times:
- Church Street will see an increase of 7 seconds for the first fire engine and 7 seconds for the second engine
- Queens Park will see an increase of 7 seconds for the first fire engine and 5 seconds for the second engine
- Westbourne will see an increase of 6 seconds for the first fire engine and 5 seconds for the second engine
London wide Labour Assembly Member Murad Qureshi AM said:
“This research shows that it is the poorest residents in Westminster who will be hit hardest by the Mayor’s reckless cuts to our frontline fire service. The London Fire Brigade’s own plan admits there is a link between fire and deprivation. The increase in attendance times for Church Street, Queens Park and Westbourne are truly scandalous and will put the poorest residents at greater risk. All because the Mayor wants to cut the council tax by a penny a day.
“I urge residents to speak up and respond to the Mayor’s consultation and tell him what they think. The public consultation meeting in Westminster will be held on the 11th of June. His plan to close Westminster fire station as well as 11 others across London, axe 18 fire engines and cut 520 firefighters are simply unacceptable.
“We presented him with a fully costed plan to keep them all open, but he has chosen to ignore us. While these increases in response times might appear small, across our city every second counts and can be the difference between life and death. It is more urgent than ever that Londoners tell the Mayor what they think. The Mayor might be prepared to take a risk with Londoners’ safety, but we are not. He must take Londoners for complete fools if he thinks he can get away with this.”
Ends
Notes
- Murad Qureshi AM is a Labour London wide Assembly Member.
- The attached table details the 100 most deprived wards in London and the increase in attendance times for first and second fire engines and can be found here: http://cityhalllabour.org/londons-most-deprived-areas-hit-hardest-by-mayors-fire-cuts/
- Source for deprivation statistics: http://data.london.gov.uk/datastore/package/indices-deprivation-2010 and source for fire engine attendance times: http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/Documents/ward-impacts.pdf
- Mayor’s Question Time took place today at City Hall. A webcast can be watched here: http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/london-assembly/webcasts