Search questions

• Reference: 2008/0108-1
• Question by: Jennette Arnold OBE
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

Let us go onto the second part of this session and let us welcome our colleague, Mr Coleman, who is here in his role as Chairman of London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). Let us also welcome the Commissioner of the Fire Service, Mr Dobson. It is usual to take a statement either from the Chair or from the Commissioner.

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

If I heard right, you, Chair, Mr Coleman, you said that that callout would have cost over £200?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

Can I just begin by declaring hospitality? I attended the awards lunch at Lords [LFEPA staff achievement awards] and I enjoyed it and I sat next to the Counter-Terrorism Joint Liaison team between the Metropolitan Police Service and the Fire Brigade, who won an award, deservedly, for their work at Operation Tiger Tiger. However, subsequently one of those posts was proposed for cuts, within this package of cuts which our colleague has been proposing. I will have to say I would much rather have kept the post than have the lunch - nice lunch that it was. Can I just...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

This is a question for the Commissioner. I do not know if you are aware of this, Commissioner, but on 25 November a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, one Lynne Featherstone, made a 999 call to the Fire Brigade, in which she said there was a terrible noise coming from the boilers in her basement, it sounded a bit like a pneumatic drill but worse. She thought something was going to blow up. The Fire Brigade turned up, punctually, rapidly as it usually does in matters of great emergencies and they discovered that it was an airlock in the central...

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

This is a question for the Chairman. I hope, Mr Chairman, you will not be taking any lessons on budgeting from the former Leader of Harrow Council, Mr Shah when, as I understand it, the budgets in Harrow got into some serious disarray in the period of 2005/06 and so, surely you need some wiser counsel.

• Question by: Navin Shah
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

I would like to get back to the question of serious savings here: 15% cuts across the board by any standards is a steep amount of cuts we are looking at. Mr Chairman, why has it taken you months after your appointment to seek a meeting with the Mayor to look at this serious business of cuts which is, obviously, going to affect the services?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

I am not down to speak but I am just intrigued how you reconcile your rather bombastic style as Chair with the need for you to preside over a fire authority which is multi-party and which no party will have a majority and, therefore, you need to rule through a consensus? Do you lie awake at night thinking about this? I am sure you do not.

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

I am tempted to ask, in keeping with the Lynne Featherstone callout question, which budget paid for the 21 gun salute that greeted your attendance here this morning that we were enjoying while you were going on! The serious point, Chairman, is that - as you yourself said - there is no one party with overall control of the Authority and, therefore, these important matters of financing of the emergency services should be a matter of proper discussion and dialogue between the parties. You have made it clear that you personally do not want to follow the Mayor's guidance, which...

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

I wonder if the Chairman - presumably it is for the Chairman this one - could bring us up to speed a bit more on the Heritage Protection Bill and the ramifications of it for the Fire Brigade and fire stations because, as I understand it, when some places are listed it is possible to get government grants to bring them up to the standard required or, indeed, to renovate them, but in other cases it is not. So what is the situation with fire stations which must produce a great problem for LFEPA.

• Question by: Richard Barnbrook
• Meeting date: 03 December 2008

After a month into Mayor Boris' election result here as the Mayor of London, he visited Barking and Dagenham. He actually spent some time at the, what I would consider to be, rather dilapidated fire station of East Dagenham. Rumours are going round - I would like to have these clarified if I can - whether it was going to be either upgraded or the station was to be demolished and replaced with a new station. Which of these two would be correct?