Simon Chapman, Fire Brigades Union secretary, London Borough of Southwark, has posted an excellent detailed report of what the proposed £65 million cuts to frontline fire services will mean for community fire services in London in the TUSC ISN blog.
Seventeen London fire stations – Acton, Belsize, Bow, Clapham, Clerkenwell, Downham, Islington, Kensington, Kingsland, Knightsbridge, New Cross, Peckham, Silvertown, Southwark, Westminster, Whitechapel, Woolwich – are threatened with closure. But the closure of these stations only saves £25 million – a long way short of the £65 million that Boris is demanding.
The LFB have produced projections of what a larger cut may mean: for £75 million they are saying there is a possibility of cutting the 112 existing stations down to 59 stations with 118 appliances, or 98 stations with 98 appliances.
Simon says:
“The decision about the station closures in London was to be made at a Fire Authority meeting to be held on 22 November, but as Boris doesn’t set the final budget until early December, he has asked for the decision to be put off until the New Year, probably not until March, and is hinting that there maybe more money available. I believe this is because of the leaked report, the press coverage since then and work already done by those who are campaigning.
We have until the March Fire Authority Meeting to force Boris, the Government and the LFB to change their minds about the closures.”
Link to electronic petition against cuts in the fire service on LHC website
By Margaret Sharkey London Hazards
