London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority


The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority was a functional body of the Greater London Authority, established under the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Its principal purpose was to run the London Fire Brigade. The 17 members of LFEPA were appointed annually by the Mayor of London. Eight were nominated from the London Assembly, seven from the London boroughs and two were Mayoral appointees. It replaced the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority, on 3 July 2000.
Under the Policing and Crime Act 2017, LFEPA was abolished in April 2018 and replaced with new governance arrangements within the GLA itself.

Members

Members for 2016/17 were as follows:
MemberPartyAppointment
Cllr Tony Arbour JP, AMConservativeLondon Assembly
Cllr Gareth Bacon AMConservativeLondon Assembly
Cllr Fiona ColleyLabourBorough
Cllr Leonie Cooper AMLabourLondon Assembly
Cllr Emma Dent CoadLabourMayoral
Andrew Dismore AMLabourLondon Assembly
Cllr Florence EshalomiLabourLondon Assembly
Cllr Susan HallConservativeBorough
Cllr Sarah HaywardLabourBorough
Cllr Jack HopkinsLabourBorough
Cllr Mehbood KhanLabourMayoral
David Kurten AMUKIPLondon Assembly
Cllr Oonagh MoultonConservativeBorough
Cllr Caroline Russell AMGreenLondon Assembly
Dr Fiona Twycross AMLabourLondon Assembly
Cllr Martin WheltonLabourBorough
Cllr Amy Whitelock GibbsLabourBorough

The current chair is Dr Fiona Twycross, who was appointed by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in May 2016.

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 Londoners on the authority." The Evening Standard reported that the mayor's political opponents were likely to seek a High Court injunction to reverse the decision. A compromise was eventually reached whereby the Mayor replaced one of the male Conservative London Assembly Members, Bob Blackman, with Angie Bray and appointed the London Councils' nominations on a temporary basis until August. These appointments were extended to June 2008.