Draft London Safety Plan 2010/2013 - Fire Brigades Union London

SECTION 1 - ABOUT US
AND THIS PLAN
THE FIRE AUTHORITY AND THE
FIRE BRIGADE
THE LONDON FIRE AND EMERGENCY
PLANNING AUTHORITY
The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority runs
the London Fire Brigade. It is also part of the family of
bodies which make up the Greater London Authority
(GLA). The Authority has 17 members, all of whom are
appointed by the Mayor of London, Boris
Johnson. Eight are nominated from the London
Assembly, seven from the London boroughs
and two are Mayoral appointees.
The Mayor appoints the Chairman of the
Authority who is Councillor Brian Coleman,
AM, FRSA.
The main duties of the London Fire and
Emergency Planning Authority are contained in
the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. The
Authority is responsible for the strategic
direction of the London Fire Brigade,
determining policy and setting priorities and
performance targets. Within the framework set
by the Mayor, the Authority also sets the
budget for the Brigade. Our Standards
Committee includes three people who are not
connected with the Authority or its business,
one of whom is the chair of the Committee. It meets to
promote and maintain the high standards of corporate
and ethical conduct to which the Authority is committed.
In addition, four specialist executive committees meet to
make decisions in their specific areas of responsibility and
to report to the Authority where appropriate. There are
also two panels which meet to consider and advise the
Authority on particular topics.
The Authority also plays a major role in national
developments in the UK fire and rescue service working
closely with the government and the Local Government
Association and in London local government via London
Councils, an organisation that promotes the interests of
London's 32 boroughs and the Corporation of London.
More information about the Authority and its members
including agendas, reports and minutes for the Authority
and its committees and panels are available from our
website www.london-fire.gov.uk
THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE
London’s fire and rescue service is the largest in the
country and one of the largest firefighting and rescue
organisations in the world. With an annual budget of over
£430 million and employing some 7,200 people, of whom
about 6,000 are uniformed operational staff, we provide
services across the whole of the Greater London area
serving London’s 7.5 million residents as well as those
who work in, or visit the city.
As our most valuable resource, our firefighters’ safety is a
high priority. To minimise the dangers they face we have
made substantial investment in their training, equipment
and working methods ensuring every incident we attend
is managed safety and effectively.
Map 1 - London's fire stations
In January 2010, the 113 th fire station in London will open,
in the Borough of Havering. It will be the first additional
fire station in 11 years. Our fire stations (including our
river station) are operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year. We provide 168 fire engines and a further 82
specialist operational vehicles including those additional
vehicles which we have provided in order to radically
enhance our capacity to respond to terrorist attacks or
other catastrophic emergencies. We answer nearly a
quarter of a million emergency calls and attend around
140,000 emergencies (often we receive more than one
call to a particular incident). Of these around 14,000 are
serious fires, including 6,500 fires in the home.
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