London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority

The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) is a functional body of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and was established under the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Its principal purpose is to run the London Fire Brigade.

It consists of 17 Members, appointed annually by the Mayor of London, nine nominated by the party groups on the London Assembly and eight nominated by the London Boroughs through London Councils, in accordance with their respective political balances.

It was formerly known as the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority (LFCDA) and had been under the direction of the Greater London Council (GLC). In 1986 when the GLC was disbanded, the LFCDA became a joint-board, made up of councillors appointed from the London boroughs. The LFCDA was reconstituted under its current name on July 3, 2000, coming under the control of the newly created Greater London Authority.

Review of Powers

Under its [http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1500896 Review of GLA Powers] , the government is proposing to replace one London Assembly member and one London Councils member with two mayoral appointees. It also proposes that the Mayor shall have a power of direction over LFEPA. If approved by parliament in a new GLA Act these changes will come into effect in 2008.

Controversy

In June 2007 the Labour Mayor, Ken Livingstone, refused to re-appoint all but one of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat LFEPA members on the grounds that "the nominations failed to tackle the under representation of women and Black, Asian and ethnic minority Londoners on the authority." [http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=12375] . The "Evening Standard" reported that the mayor's political opponents were likely to seek a High Court injunction to reverse the decision [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=462863&in_page_id=1770] . A compromise was eventually reached whereby the Mayor replaced one of the male Conservative London Assembly Members, Robert Blackman, with Angie Bray and appointed the London Councils' nominations on a temporary basis until August [http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/news.php?slug=LFEPA-Nominations-Go-Ahead&article_id=699] . These appointments have now been extended until June 2008 or the passage of the new GLA Act through Parliament.

Members

*Valerie Shawcross (Chair), Labour, London Assembly representative Lambeth and Southwark constituency

*Cllr Liaquat Ali, Labour, Borough representative London Borough of Waltham Forest

*Angie Bray, Conservative, London Assembly representative West Central constituency

*Cllr Ed Butcher, Liberal Democrat, Borough representative London Borough of Haringey

*Brian Coleman, (Vice Chair), Conservative, London Assembly representative Barnet and Camden constituency

*Roger Evans, Conservative, London Assembly representative Havering and Redbridge constituency

*Cllr Betty Evans-Jacas, Labour, Borough representative London Borough of Lambeth

*Cllr Rebekah Gilbert, Conservative, Borough representative the London Borough of Bromley

*Cllr Maurice Heaster, Conservative, Borough representative London Borough of Wandsworth

*Peter Hulme-Cross, One London, London Assembly representative London-wide Member

*Darren Johnson, Green, London Assembly representative London-wide Member

*Geoff Pope, Liberal Democrat, London Assembly representative London-wide Member

*Murad Qureshi, Labour, London Assembly representative London-wide Member

*Cllr Navin Shah, Labour, Borough representative London Borough of Harrow

*Cllr Colin Tandy, Conservative, Borough representative London Borough of Bexley

*Mike Tuffrey, Liberal Democrat, London Assembly representative London-wide Member

*Cllr John Whelan,(Deputy Chair), Conservative, Borough representative London Borough of Lambeth

ee also

*Fire authority
*Fire service in the United Kingdom

External links

* [http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/lfepa/lfepa.asp LFEPA Website]