London Fire Sale: 31 stations & engines could be cut


by Newswire    
4:23 pm - November 21st 2012

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London Assembly members warn that 31 fire stations and 36 fire engines in London are heading for the chop, putting lives at risk.

But Mayor Boris Johnson is refusing to come clear about his plans for the cuts.

The London Fire Brigade’s budget will be cut by £64.5million over the next two years. With £14 million of back-office cuts identified so far, this leaves £50million of cuts to be found elsewhere.

The Mayor of London sets the budget and has overall reponsibility for London Fire Brigade.

A report to be presented to body tomrorow reveals that 31 fire stations and 36 fire appliances will need to be cut to meet the £50million funding gap.

The stations earmarked for closure are:
Belsize, Bexley, Biggin Hill, Chingford, Chiswick, Clapham, Clerkenwell, Deptford, Downham, Eltham, Fulham, Greenwich, Hainault, Hornchurch, Islington, Kensington, Kingsland, Knightsbridge, Lee Green, Leyton, Mill Hill, New Cross, Park Royal, Peckham, Silvertown, Southwark, Twickenham, Wennington, Westminster, Whitechapel, Woolwich

In addition the following stations will lose at least one fire engine: Bow, Bromley, Finchley, Kingston and Romford.

Labour London Assembly Fire spokesperson Navin Shah AM is saying that unless the government provide extra funding at the upcoming Autumn Statement, these fire stations will close.

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Reader comments


1. Blah

Wtf.

2. pagar

The fire service is a bloated and largely indolent bureaucracy stuck in a marxist time warp. They have been protected from change by a militant union and the erroneous perception amongst the public of the selfless and dangerous nature of their job.

These reforms don’t go nearly far enough.

3. Matt Wardman

I see that the number of incidents is consistently falling – by about 20% between 2006 and 2011 for example – so this seems to be about right, provided response times can be met.

The proposals are reducing fire engines by 18% and stations by about 27%.

Making savings so that whoever’s money it is can use it productively. Good.

4. Dr Doom

This really shows the incompetence of Johnson. But more so, it displays the haphazard nature of the Camoron project. 60000 nurses are also going next year, and 500 000 people will die by 2014 in the disabled community. With the NHS teetering already, I think this will lead to a million deaths, maybe more. The British public will not forgive the tories for this for thirty years.

Muhahaha

5. Man on Clapham Omnibus

2. pagar

absolutely spot on. Who needs em? If my house was on fire I am dammed if I’d have a Marxist put it out. Bastards!

6. Matt Wardman

Silly me.

I should have checked whether LibCon was exaggerating.

The proposals are here:

http://www.london.gov.uk/LFEPA/mgconvert2pdf.aspx?id=1345

And LibCon seems to have decided to translate the most dramatic of 3 separate *proposals* into an established fact.

Or is there a real source for this?

You’ll note that Adam B’s piece talks about “up to 31″.
http://snipelondon.com/scoop/up-to-31-fire-stations-to-close-across-london

Sunny?

7. margin4error

Shame to see falling fire events used by some to justify cutting the budget of the fire service. After all, one would like to imagine some sort of reward to incentivise success rather than punishment directed at those who achieve.

Fire services were reformed significantly under the last government, and a part of that reform was a legacy of strengthening prevention and education activity. (Firemen spend less time at the station waiting to get a call, and more time going out to events and schools to educate and prevent risks)

So do we really want to be spending less on this now? Surely it saves us money as a country to have fewer fires and fewer injuries and deaths as a result of fewer fires?


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Soupy One

    London’s Big Fire Sale: 31 Fire stations and 36 Fire engines to be cut http://t.co/7G1RWu7V

  2. leftlinks

    Liberal Conspiracy – London’s Fire sale: 31 stations and 36 engines to be cut http://t.co/39ZhA73U

  3. Jenny Hicks

    London’s Big Fire Sale: 31 Fire stations and 36 Fire engines to be cut http://t.co/7G1RWu7V

  4. Ain Bailey

    London’s Big Fire Sale: 31 Fire stations and 36 Fire engines to be cut http://t.co/7G1RWu7V

  5. Conor A.L. Young

    London’s Big Fire Sale: 31 Fire stations and 36 Fire engines to be cut http://t.co/7G1RWu7V

  6. migo984

    London’s Big Fire Sale: 31 Fire stations and 36 Fire engines to be cut http://t.co/7G1RWu7V

  7. Eugene Grant

    London #Fire Brigade’s budget will be cut by £64.5million over the next two years http://t.co/SCxQx3gW >>> this *really* can't be good #fire

  8. Simon P. Hughes

    London #Fire Brigade’s budget will be cut by £64.5million over the next two years http://t.co/SCxQx3gW >>> this *really* can't be good #fire

  9. Zal

    Report presented tom to meet a £50m funding gap by CUTTING fire stations & fire apps. http://t.co/2bld3Awi #FireBrigade Can'tBelieveIt

  10. A Person

    London’s Fire sale: 31 stations and 36 engines to be cut – The Dark Side of Boris http://t.co/4f9WWRkw

  11. Alex Braithwaite

    London’s Fire sale: 31 stations and 36 engines to be cut | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/SFN69oDD via @libcon#Iblamethosewhovotedhimbackin

  12. Nik

    London’s Fire sale: 31 stations and 36 engines to be cut | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/SFN69oDD via @libcon#Iblamethosewhovotedhimbackin

  13. d1s.0bey

    London’s Big Fire Sale: 31 Fire stations and 36 Fire engines to be cut http://t.co/7G1RWu7V

  14. Charles Singley

    London Fire Sale: 31 stations & engines could be cut | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/HTp5DV1l

  15. Chris Crosby

    Proposals 2 CLOSE up to 31 #FireStations lose 36 FIRE ENGINES &AXE 100s of jobs http://t.co/1JENFe4o pls sign ptn http://t.co/2VSOkNjW RT





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